Kirsten Flipkens stuns Sabine Lisicki in opening round – BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open 2012
Belgian wild card entrant, Kirsten Flipkens, made an epic comeback to shock the fifth seed, Sabine Lisicki, in a three-set nail-biter at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open 2012 on Tuesday. She jolted down a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory against 23-year-old to secure a spot in the second round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
The blooming Belgian showed exceptional skills to outrun Lisicki for the first time in their third outing. After earning the victory in one hour and 49 minutes, Flipkens stayed on track to bid for her second year-to-date title at this tournament.
The world number 24 thundered into the Olympic Stadium. She got the desiderated break in the second game and jumped to a 3-0 lead. Apart from losing her edge in the fifth game, the German stayed calm and put her head in the game. She got the breakthrough in the eighth game and clicked the opener with a 6-3 win.
Ranked 58th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Flipkens went out of control in the proceeding set. She winded up four games in a row before Lisicki could come on the score sheet. The Belgian held her remaining serves with poise and ultimately closed out the equaliser by winning six games to three.
The third set was a lopsided affair as the wild card unleashed barrage of groundstrokes to wind up the opening three games including two breaks of serve. She exchanged a serve break before cashing another break chance in the last, eventually clinching the decider with a breadstick.
On the whole, Flipkens withstood nine aces and finished the match with 91 points. She spilled lower unforced errors and produced a better first serve share of 64 per cent as compared to her rival’s 47 per cent. The Belgian also impressively marked 30 out of 45 points on it and sought 13 break chances to prevail. She also warded off six out of 10 breakpoints she faced.
Next up for Flipkens is the winner of the match between Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus and the former world number five, Daniela Hantuchova from Slovakia.
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