From BZ/dpa
Ten years ago, Sabine Lisicki enchanted tennis fans when she reached the final in Wimbledon. In recent years, however, she has been plagued by bad luck. The tournament in Berlin is a new opportunity.
Tennis player Sabine Lisicki is looking forward to the home tournament in Berlin on her favorite surface, grass. “It’s always something very special, as a small child I always spent many hours here,” said the 2013 Wimbledon finalist before the start of the WTA tournament from June 19th to 25th: “It was also a motivation, after to come back from the serious injury.”
After many health setbacks, the 33-year-old is fighting to join the top 100 in the world rankings, she is currently ranked 292nd. “Basically, things are going in the right direction. But it takes a little time to work your way up,” said the Berliner: “I’m grateful and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
Lisicki is the only German player who has a permanent place in the main draw thanks to a wildcard. Other German starters such as Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier, on the other hand, first have to survive the qualification that begins on Saturday on the LTTC Rot-Weiss facility. The German number one for women, Tatjana Maria, has decided against starting in Berlin. Last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist is already in Great Britain.
From an international point of view, almost the entire world elite turns up at the event, which is endowed with 850,000 dollars. The fans can look forward to Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), last year’s winner Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) and US exceptional talent Cori Gauff. The Polish world number one Iga Swiatek, who won the final of the French Open a week ago, is not there.
“With eight out of ten top ten players in the world, it’s a strong field, so I have to play my absolute best tennis to win matches,” said Lisicki.