WTA Bad Homburg: Sabine Lisicki and Angelique Kerber fuel new hope despite quarter-final defeats

There was already a lot to see from the “old Sabine Lisicki” in Bad Homburg. Nevertheless, the Troisdorf native should be annoyed that she missed chance after chance in the 3: 6, 6: 7 (7: 9) against Caroline Garcia from France.

The 32-year-old didn’t use any of her twelve breakballs and neither of the two set balls in the tie-break of the second round.

The typical Lisicki smile that the fans in the Kurpark had seen for days gave way to a petrified expression.

With some distance, however, the pride should return. In her victories against Tamara Korpatsch from Hamburg and the Belgian Greet Minnen, but also in the defeat against the former top 10 player Garcia, Lisicki proved that she is on her way back after years of suffering.

Beat by beat, game by game, it now feels “more and more like the old Sabine. And that’s a nice feeling after the very, very tough last few years,” Lisicki said on Wednesday.

“The old Sabine” – that means risk and a feeling for lawn. She served nine aces and eight double faults against Garcia, beating a total of 50 winners with 40 slight errors.

Lisicki opponent Garcia: “It’s very stressful”

Garcia said after the match point that you always have to be on your guard against Lisicki. “An ace or a win can come at any time. It’s very stressful,” said the winner. But it was “great” to see Lisicki on the tour again: “She’s always dangerous, especially on grass.”

The Berliner had celebrated her greatest successes there and was in the final of Wimbledon in 2013.

This year she will be absent from the All England Club. After her long breaks due to glandular fever and a total knee loss, Lisicki has to fight her way back to the top of the world.

She made a start in Bad Homburg. Through the quarterfinals, she climbed 300 places in the world rankings – pretty much exactly 500th place.

Kerber delivers a useful tournament

Angelique Kerber, the only German player in Wimbledon, would have expected a little more in Bad Homburg.

However, in Bad Homburg, the Kiel resident was not only required as the defending champion and crowd favorite, but also as a tournament ambassador. Against this background, it was a very useful tournament for the 2018 Wimbledon winner. Kerber will then compete in the All England Club from next Monday – and the chances of a top result are good.

(SID)