The incredible emotion of former Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki as she qualifies for Hamburg main draw
The former world No 12 will face Aleksandra Krunic in the first round of the WTA Hamburg Open on Tuesday
Sabine Lisicki at the Hamburg Open in 2022
Sabine Lisicki knows what it’s like to play for big titles. The German has been a finalist at Wimbledon in 2013 – the most prestigious Grand Slam of them all.
She has also won 4 WTA singles titles, including the WTA Premier event in Charleston, and 4 WTA doubles titles, including the Miami Open, in her career thus far.
But the last few years have been tough on the big-serving German, who returned to the tour after 18 months on the sidelines in May. Having been away from the tour for such an extended period of time, the 32-year-old Lisicki is looking at small wins and gains right now rather than Grand Slams or Premier titles.
Lisicki now ranked No 399
But each victory remains just as important for the German, especially now more so than ever as seen by her reaction to her most recent win in the qualifying draw of the WTA Hamburg Open.
Playing in front of her home fans, Lisicki fell to the ground and broke down in tears as she defeated top seed Kateryna Baindl 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the final round of qualifying on Sunday to move into the main draw in Hamburg – a WTA 250 event.
Lisicki’s reward is a first-round clash against Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic, who reached the final in Budapest last week.
The German is now ranked No 399 in the world, having reached the quarter-finals in Bad Homburg in June. Still far away from getting direct entry WTA events or the Grand Slams. But you can be rest assured that Lisicki will be giving it her all every time she steps on to the court.
People in this post
More tennis news
Nadal recalls childhood incident that turned out to be a “very important lesson for me”
“There were months when I thought about taking a complete break from tennis to cleanse my mind” – Nadal
“Even a Djokovic can still learn something” – Melzer on the Serb’s partnership with Murray
“Fonseca reminds me of like a mini-Sinner” – Michelsen
“Wasn’t prepared as well for the other things that inevitably do take some energy out of you” – Raducanu
