Sabine Lisicki

Sabine Lisicki

Lisicki at the 2012 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Full name	Sabine Lisicki
Country (sports)	Germany
Residence	Bradenton, Florida, United States
Born	(1989-09-22) 22 September 1989 Troisdorf, West Germany
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro	2006
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,669,815
Singles
Career record	213–140
Career titles	3 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 12 (21 May 2012)
Current ranking	No. 47 (15 April 2013)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2012)
French Open	2R (2008, 2011)
Wimbledon	SF (2011)
US Open	4R (2011)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	3R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	48–31
Career titles	1 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 35 (9 April 2012)
Current ranking	No. 66 (15 April 2013)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2010)
French Open	1R (2008)
Wimbledon	F (2011)
US Open	QF (2012)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2012)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2013)
Other mixed doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	SF – 4th place (2012)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	7–5
Hopman Cup	4–6
Last updated on: 15 April 2013.

Sabine Lisicki (German pronunciation: [lɨˈzɪki]; born 22 September 1989) is a German professional tennis player. She was born in Troisdorf.

Lisicki has won three WTA singles tournaments in her career (one in 2009 and two in 2011) and one doubles tournament (in 2011). She reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 and 2012 Wimbledon Championships and the semifinals of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. She achieved her career high rank of world number 12 on 21 May 2012. After struggling with injuries in 2010, Lisicki rebounded in 2011 and re-entered the top 100 of the world rankings. She is only the second woman in Wimbledon history to make it to the semifinals while entering the tournament as a wildcard.

Career

Since 2004 Lisicki has trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA, where she is sponsored and managed by IMG. She is coached by her father, who studied sport science in Wrocław and Cologne.

Lisicki had a successful year in 2007 on the ITF circuit and climbed from World No. 497 to World No. 198 in the WTA rankings. She won two titles, one in Jersey and the other in Toronto, Canada. She defeated top-seed Katie O'Brien on 2 August 2007 at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open.

In 2006, Lisicki competed at the 2006 Sunfeast Open – Singles Qualifying in Kolkata where she defeated Ragini Vimal in the first round, but lost in the qualifying round to Sanaa Bhambri of India.

2008

Lisicki at the 2008 US Open

At the 2008 Australian Open, Lisicki's first Grand Slam tournament, she defeated the number 16-seeded player, Dinara Safina, as well as Mariya Koryttseva to reach the third round as a qualifier. She lost her third round match to Caroline Wozniacki. In the first round of the Fed Cup against the United States, Lisicki defeated Lindsay Davenport in straight sets.

Lisicki next reached the fourth round of the Miami 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, a Tier I event, where she defeated sixth seeded Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets. However, she was beaten in the next round by Elena Dementieva.

At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Lisicki lost in the first round to the 2007 runner-up, number 11 seed Marion Bartoli.

In October, Lisicki reached her first WTA final at the Tashkent Open, where she lost in three sets to fellow teenager Sorana Cîrstea of Romania.

2009

Lisicki started her year at the Hopman Cup in Perth where she advanced to the third round before losing to Dominika Cibulková in straight sets. At the Australian Open, Lisicki defeated the 30th seed Aleksandra Wozniak in the opening round before losing to Samantha Stosur in straight sets. She then took part in Germany's 3–2 win over Switzerland in their Fed Cup World Group II tie, defeating Timea Bacsinszky but losing to Patty Schnyder.

At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Lisicki reached the semifinals, defeating number 3 seed Lucie Šafářová on the way before losing to eventual winner Victoria Azarenka. Lisicki then took part in the first Premier Mandatory tournament of the year in North America. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, she lost in the first round to Elena Vesnina. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, she lost in the second round to 26th seed Iveta Benešová.

During the clay-court season, Lisicki lost in the second round of the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach to eventual finalist and number 5 seed Aleksandra Wozniak. On the green clay at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, Lisicki won her first WTA Tour title without dropping a set, defeating the 5th seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final. She had previously defeated 2nd seeded Venus Williams in the third round and number 6 seed Marion Bartoli in the semifinals. She then took part in Germany's Fed Cup World Group play-off win against China. She defeated world no. 16 Zheng Jie in the first singles match, and partenered with Anna-Lena Grönefeld to win the decisive doubles match.

Lisicki advanced to the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart before losing to third-seeded Jelena Janković in straight sets. She then advanced to the quarterfinals at the Estoril Open in Portugal where she lost to compatriot Anna-Lena Grönefeld, retiring when 6–2 down. At the French Open, Lisicki lost to Lucie Šafářová in the first round.

On her first match on grass at the AEGON International in Eastbourne, Lisicki lost to Samantha Stosur in the first round. In doubles, Lisicki and her partner Ana Ivanović lost in the first round to Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

Lisicki at the 2009 Toray Pan Pacific Open

Lisicki played her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, where she was beaten by world number 1 Dinara Safina. To reach the quarterfinal, she had defeated Anna Chakvetadze in the first round, Patricia Mayr in the second, the 2009 French Open champion and number 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round, and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth.

Seeded 23rd, Lisicki advanced to the second round at the 2009 US Open, but lost to qualifier Anastasia Rodionova. On Rodionova's match point, Lisicki slipped while going to return a backhand and injured her left ankle. She left the court in a wheelchair as Rodionova advanced to the third round. Lisicki later reported that an MRI showed no tears. The injury was a sprain, and Lisicki returned to her base in Florida for rehabilitation.

Lisicki returned to the tour at the Toray Pan Pacific Open at the end of September, where she reached the second round, but losing in three sets to 7th seeded Jelena Janković.

In October, Lisicki reached the final of Luxembourg, but lost there to Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland. On her way to the final she beat Iveta Benešová, Polona Hercog, Patty Schnyder and Shahar Pe'er.

Lisicki qualified for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. She lost her first round robin match to Aravane Rezaï, but won her second round robin match against Melinda Czink.

2010

Lisicki started the 2010 season by playing at the Hopman Cup for Germany. She won her singles ties against Elena Dementieva and Laura Robson but lost to Yaroslava Shvedova. Partnering with Philipp Kohlschreiber, they lost all their doubles matches, so Germany did not proceed to the finals.

Lisicki then travelled to Melbourne to compete in the Australian Open where she was the 21st seed. However, she was defeated in the second round by Alberta Brianti in three sets. Her first tournament after the Australian Open was the Pattaya Open in Bangkok where she was the second seed. However, she lost her second round match to home player Tamarine Tanasugarn.

She then went to Dubai to compete in the Dubai Tennis Championships. She lost her second round match against Venus Williams.

Her next two tournaments were at Indian Wells and Miami. In both tournaments, Lisicki retired in the second round because of an ankle injury. The injury sidelined her for five months, and she withdrew from tournaments at Ponte Vedra and Charleston. She also missed the Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Coming into the 2010 US Open ranked world number 96, Lisicki advanced to the second round before losing to 7th seeded Vera Zvonareva.

After the US Open, Lisicki failed to qualify for the Luxembourg Open leading to her dropping out of the top 100.

2011

Lisicki in-action at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships

Lisicki started the 2011 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She lost to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets in the second round. In the Australian Open, Lisicki played the qualifying tournament and lost in the second round to Vesna Manasieva.

After losing at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open to Sorana Cîrstea in the qualifying rounds, Lisicki lifted her form and reached the third round at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was defeated by Maria Sharapova.

At the 2011 Family Circle Cup, Lisicki reached the third round, but lost to Sania Mirza in two sets.

At the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Lisicki lost in the third round against her compatriot Julia Görges, eventual champion of the tournament. In doubles, Lisicki partnered with former world no. 1 doubles player Samantha Stosur to win her first ever career doubles title.

At the 2011 French Open, Lisicki advanced to the second round against the number three seed, Vera Zvonareva. Lisicki had a match point at 5–2 of the third set, but she lost the point and eventually the match. Afterwards, she lay on the court, sobbing, and was taken off on a stretcher due to injury.

At the 2011 AEGON Classic, Lisicki reached the final where she defeated Daniela Hantuchová to win her second WTA Tour title.

At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Lisicki received a wildcard to enter the tournament, advancing to the semifinals of a major for the first time, and beating third seed and recent French Open champion Li Na in the second round. She was eliminated by Maria Sharapova in straight sets after leading the first set 3–0. This was the first time in 12 years that a German woman (since Steffi Graf reached the Wimbledon finals in 1999) had reached the semifinal stage of a Grand Slam. Lisicki was the second wild-card entry to reach the women's semifinals in Wimbledon history. In doubles, Lisicki partnered with Samantha Stosur and lost in the final.

At the 2011 Bank of the West Classic, Lisicki beat 4th seed and doubles partner Samantha Stosur and 5th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, but fell to Serena Williams in the semifinals.

At 2011 Western & Southern Open Lisicki lost to Shahar Pe'er in the first round.

Lisicki then traveled to Dallas to compete in the inaugural 2011 Texas Tennis Open as the 5th seed. After advancing to the semifinals with an easy win over qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko, she crushed 8th seed Irina-Camelia Begu to advance to the final. Lisicki won her third title, defeating qualifier Aravane Rezaï, having dropped no more than three games each match of the way to her victory. She moved to a new career-high rank of world number 18 on 29 August.

Seeded 22nd at the 2011 US Open, she easily advanced to the second round with a straight-sets win over Alona Bondarenko. She was scheduled to play Venus Williams in the second round, but Williams withdrew before it started due to her recent diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome. Lisicki dispatched Irina Falconi to advance to the fourth round for the first time, before ultimately being defeated by second seed Vera Zvonareva.

At the China Open Liscki defeated Zheng Saisai in straight sets but withdrew from her second round match against Kaia Kanepi.

Lisicki was named the WTA comeback player of the year in November.

2012

Lisicki's first tournament in 2012 was the 2012 ASB Classic Tournament where she was the number 1 seed. In the first round, she defeated Virginie Razzano. In the second round, she defeated Mona Barthel. In the quarterfinal, she faced Angelique Kerber, the 2011 US Open semifinalist, and was losing 4–6, before retiring, due to a back injury, in the second set at a score of 3–4. In doubles, she entered with Chinese player Peng Shuai and they won their first round match against Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. Both the Italians would go on to the Australian Open in four weeks time. In the second round, they pulled out due to the injury picked up by Lisicki in the quarterfinal of the singles tournament against Angelique Kerber.

Lisicki next entered the 2012 Apia International Sydney where she was unseeded. Before the first round of the tournament began, she pulled out with her recent back injury and gave her place to Lucky Loser, Alexandra Dulgheru.

Lisicki next competed in the Australian Open where she was the fourteenth seed. In the first round, she faced Stefanie Vögele and beat her in three sets. In the second round, she defeated Shahar Pe'er. In the third round, she beat eighteenth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She was defeated by Russian Maria Sharapova. Lisicki took the first set, winning six consecutive games after being down 0–3, but was unable to match Sharapova in the following two sets.

At the 2012 Fed Cup, Lisicki played for Germany alongside Julia Görges, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Angelique Kerber. She started off the meeting between Germany and the Czech Republic by facing Iveta Benešová, a match in which she lost. In her second match, she faced Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová and also lost. Germany lost the meeting by a score of 1–4.

Lisicki at the 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships

Lisicki's next tournament was supposed to be the 2012 Open GDF Suez where she was to be the fifth seed. She pulled out before the tournament began with a viral illness.

Lisicki then competed in the 2012 Qatar Ladies Open where she was the ninth seed. In the first round she met compatriot Angelique Kerber and lost in three sets to continue a losing streak dating back to the fourth round of the Australian Open. In doubles, she was the fourth seed along with Russian Maria Kirilenko. They received a bye into the second round where they met Andreja Klepač and Alicja Rosolska, beating them in a third set tie-break. In the third round they met fifth seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Anastasia Rodionova. They lost the first set 4–6, and in the second set, Llagostera Vives and Rodionova took an early 3–1 lead, but Lisicki and Kirilenko were able to even the score by winning the following two games. The two teams swapped a break of serve to bring the score to 4–4. The teams held serve and brought the set to a tiebreak. Lisicki and Kirilenko won 7–3 to level the score at one set each. They lost the third set, and with it, ultimately, the match.

Lisicki's next tournament was the 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was supposed to face fifth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round. However, after second seed Petra Kvitová withdrew, she became the ninth seed and received Kvitová's bye into the second round. There she met Iveta Benešová, defeating her in two sets. In the quarterfinals she was knocked out by Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland.

Lisicki's next competition was the 2012 Indian Wells tournament, where she was the eleventh seed. She received a bye into the second round, where she faced Spaniard Lourdes Domínguez Lino, losing in two sets. In doubles, she competed with compatriot Julia Görges. They beat Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. The two Germans next faced Czech pair and 2011 French Open champions Lucie Hradecká and Andrea Hlaváčková, losing in straight sets.

Lisicki knocked out world number one and current French Open Champion, Maria Sharapova, in the fourth round of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships before losing in the quarter-finals

Lisicki next went to the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was the twelfth seed. She got a bye to the second round where she faced Sofia Arvidsson. Victorious, she then faced Peng Shuai in the third round. She won this match too and then faced Li Na in the fourth round. Li defeated Lisicki in three sets.

At the 2012 Family Circle Cup, Lisicki was the sixth seed. She received a bye into the second round. There she faced lucky loser Andrea Hlaváčková, winning in three. She faced qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round and won in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, she faced Serena Williams. Behind 1–4 to her opponent, Lisicki fell and injured her left ankle. She retired from the match in tears, sending Serena into the semis. In doubles, she paired with 2012 Australian Open women's doubles champion Vera Zvonareva. They lost to top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.

As a result of the fall in her quarterfinal match, Lisicki was forced to the sideline at the Fed Cup World Group Play-off tie against Australia. She was also forced to pull out of the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, from which she was defending a quarterfinal spot in singles and the doubles title which she won with Samantha Stosur. Lisicki also missed the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open, a Premier Mandatory tournament.

After nearly a month off the tour, Lisicki returned as the twelfth seed in the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She faced Marina Erakovic in the first round, where she lost. Traveling next to her home country for the 2012 Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she was the top seed, Lisicki again experienced a first round upset, losing to Pauline Parmentier. Lisicki then traveled to Paris to play the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, where she was the twelfth seed. On the red clay of Roland Garros, Lisicki lost to American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Lisicki started her summer grass court season by defending her title in the 2012 AEGON Classic. As the second seed she received a bye into the second round, where she lost to Urszula Radwańska. This set Lisicki up with a five-match losing streak going into the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. In the first round she beat unseeded Petra Martić, breaking her losing streak and putting her into the second round, where she faced Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski. Lisicki won the match to set up a third round tie with Sloane Stephens, where she again faced a tight match, pulling through in the third set. In the fourth round she beat top seed Maria Sharapova, to whom she had lost in the semi-finals the previous year. In the subsequent quarterfinals, Lisicki once again met fellow German Angelique Kerber. Having lost the previous four meetings, Lisicki proceeded to lose the first set 3–6. Lisicki rallied in the second set to take it in a tiebreak; in this second set Lisicki saved two match points. Some observers felt Kerber was visibly frustrated during the start of the third set, but Lisicki proved ultimately unable to take the match. At one point Lisicki was serving for the match, but Kerber went on the take the third set, and the match, dropping Lisicki back down to a world ranking of 18.

Lisicki entered the 2012 Mercury Insurance Open as the fifth seed but pulled out with an abdominal injury. She went straight back to London to prepare for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She entered singles where she was seeded fifteenth, the doubles with Angelique Kerber where they were seeded fifth and the mixed doubles with Christopher Kas where they were unseeded. In the singles, she beat Ons Jabeur and Yaroslava Shvedova in the first and second rounds respectively. She lost to Maria Sharapova in the third round despite winning the first set and leading 4–2 in the second. In doubles, Lisicki and Kerber beat British pair Laura Robson and Heather Watson in the first round after losing the first set whilst taking only eleven points and going 4–2 down in the second set. In the second round they lost to Venus and Serena Williams. In mixed doubles, Lisicki and Kas beat second seeds Bob Bryan and Liezel Huber in the first round, and Daniele Bracciali and Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they lost to Andy Murray and Laura Robson. In the bronze medal match, they lost to third seeds Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond.

Lisicki moved on to the 2012 Rogers Cup in Montreal. She was fifteenth seed in singles falling in her opening match to Carla Suárez Navarro. In doubles she made it to the quarterfinals partnering Peng Shuai. They beat sixth seeds Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová and Natalie Grandin and Vladimíra Uhlířová in the first and second rounds respectively. They were forced to pull out of the competition against top seeds Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber as a result of Lisicki suffering an abdominal injury.

Lisicki entered the 2012 US Open as the 16th seed, but she was upset in the first round by Romania's Sorana Cîrstea. In doubles, Lisicki again partnered with Peng Shuai. They beat Laura Robson and Shahar Pe'er in the first round, twelfth seeds Anastasia Rodionova and Galina Voskoboeva in the second and sixth seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the third. They lost to eventual finalists Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the quarterfinals.

Lisicki's next tournament was in Japan at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open. In singles, she started with a first round loss against British qualifier Heather Watson. In doubles, she partnered with world number 3, Lisa Raymond. They faced Monica Niculescu and Alicja Rosolska, both of whom had recently lost in WTA doubles finals. Lisicki and Raymond won the match and defeated Darija Jurak and Katalin Marosi in the quarterfinals.

Lisicki next participated at the China Open, but she was defeated in the second round by the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. She next moved to Linz where she lost in the first round to Patricia Mayr-Achleitner. Lisicki finished her season losing in the first round of the 2012 BGL Luxembourg Open to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

2013

Lisicki started 2013 with the 2013 Brisbane International. She beat Lucie Šafářová in the first round. She lost in the second round to world number 1, Victoria Azarenka. She pulled out of the qualifying draw for the 2013 Apia International Sydney with a virus.

Lisicki then competed in the 2013 Australian Open. In the first round she faced Caroline Wozniacki and was defeated. She also competed in the mixed doubles with Frederik Nielsen. They were knocked out in the first round by the home favorites and eventual champions, Jarmila Gajdošová and Matthew Ebden.

Lisicki then moved onto the 2013 PTT Pattaya Open. In the first round she beat fellow German Tatjana Malek. She downed Alexandra Panova in the second round and came back from a set down in the quarterfinals to beat Marina Erakovic. In her first semi-final since 2011, she beat Nina Bratchikova 7–5 6–3. In the final, she faced Maria Kirilenko and lost in three sets 7–5 1–6 6–7^(1–7).

Her next tournament was in Memphis. As the third seed, she beat qualifier Madison Keys in the first round and Melinda Czink in the second. In the quarter-final, she beat eight seed Kristina Mladenovic 6–3 6–3 and will face seventh seed Magdaléna Rybáriková in the semi-final.

Personal life

Her parents emigrated to West Germany from Poland in 1979; her father, Dr. Richard Lisicki, is of German and Polish descent, and her mother, Elisabeth, of Polish. They went to Germany being part of the German minority in Poland ("Spätaussiedler") Her father, who introduced her to the sport at the age of 7, is her coach and her mother is a painter specialising in ceramics. Lisicki currently lives in Bradenton, Florida. She is fluent in German, English and Polish. Her off-court interests include reading, music and athletics & the Mighty Bouch.

Career Statistics and Major finals

Main article: Sabine Lisicki career statistics

Grand Slam

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2011	Wimbledon	Grass	Samantha Stosur	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	3–6, 1–6

Singles performance timeline

Only Main Draw results in WTA Tour are considered. This table is current through the 2013 Australian Open.

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	SR	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	3R	2R	2R	LQ	4R	1R	0 / 5	7–5
French Open	A	A	2R	1R	A	2R	1R		0 / 4	2–4
Wimbledon	A	A	1R	QF	A	SF	QF		0 / 4	13–4
US Open	A	A	2R	2R	2R	4R	1R		0 / 5	6–5
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	4–4	6–4	2–2	9–3	7–4	0–1	0 / 18	28–18
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0
Tournament of Champions	Not Held			A	A	4th	A		0 / 1	1–1

External links

• Sabine Lisicki at the Women's Tennis Association
• Sabine Lisicki at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Official website