Former Wimbledon finalist, Sabine Lisicki doesn’t come into Wimbledon with the highest ranking in her career, but in her second round match, she played amazing tennis in order to defeat 14th seed, Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-2. The German dominated from the start and while the Australian put on a decent fight, the German was in full control of the situation.
An early break is all Lisicki needed to grab the opening set
Stosur didn’t get a good start as she double-faulted in the first point of the match to later make another double-fault on break point to give the German the early lead. Lisicki had a less complicated game of serve to consolidate the break with an ace, leading 2-0. The next game proved to be one of the most erratics of the match from both players, the Australian managed to hold after a forehand unforced error from her opponent. However, the German was dominating in what is her best surface, she kept the lead after a fantastic hold to love.
Despite the unforced errors and a double-fault, Stosur stayed right behind the German expecting the perfect moment to break and get back in the set. But Lisicki was not giving anything away, not a single chance to Stosur in the last games as she hold to be up 4-2.
Once again, Stosur had to play a long game against the German who was not holding back when she had to attack the Australian. The serve of Lisicki was being a major help as she hit three of them to again hold to love and lead 5-3. A forehand unforced error gave Lisicki a chance to break again, but Stosur saved it and eventually held with an ace. It was now time for the German to serve for the first set and she did with another solid game of serve. Lisicki grabbed the first set 6-4 in just 34 minutes and only lost two points on her serve.
Sabine Lisicki dominates the second set
Lisicki began the second set the way she did at the start of the match, breaking Stosur after missing two break points. However, this time, the German was not consistent with her serve and failed to consolidate the break. Stosur won a smash winner to level things up to 1-1. The Australian needed to hold her serve to be upfront for the first time in the match, but a double-fault gave Lisicki a break point which she won after hitting a great backhand on the run that forced the Australian to hit a wide ball. The German consolidated the break with a solid hold to love to lead 3-1.
Stosur then led 40-15 on her serve, but two great forehand winners by the German forced the deuce. A weak second serve from Stosur helped Lisicki to return a deep ball that Stosur was unable to respond and with that she gave the German a break point. Lisicki won the break with a great drop shot after a backhand down the line to lead 4-1.
The former Wimbledon finalist then would hold to confirm the break and lead 5-1. For the first time in the match, Stosur held to love but still was two breaks down. However, the German known for her fast and powerful serve made use of it hitting three aces while she served for the match, including one on match point. In just 72 minutes, Sabine Lisicki defeated Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.
Lisicki’s win by numbers
The former Wimbledon finalist had a nearly perfect match, she pounded 12 aces and didn’t hit a double-fault. As for Stosur, she just had one ace and eight double faults. Despite getting the lower percent of first serves, Lisicki still won the most points on her first serve, winning 92 percent. Stosur took the only chance she had to break while Lisicki won four out of 11 break points. The German registered a 100 percent net approach points, winning all five. The biggest difference was in the winners and unforced errors, Stosur had 18 unforced errors and just 12 winners while Lisicki had only nine unforced errors and an outstanding 31 winners.
Next for Lisicki
In the third round, Lisicki will face Yaroslava Shvedova who defeated the 17th seed, Elina Svitolina in three sets. They have faced each other on five occasions, Lisicki winning three of them. Their last encounter was last year in Brisbane where Shvedova won in three sets. However, they have played on grass two times, both of those were won by the German. The first one in 2012 at the Olympics Games and the second one in 2014 at the fourth round of this tournament, Wimbledon. Those encounters went to three sets.