Sabine Lisicki bounces over Andrea Hlavackova to reach round three – Family Circle Cup 2012
Sixth seed, Sabine Lisicki, hit back to outrun the Czech lucky loser, Andrea Hlavackova, in a three set thriller at the Family Circle Cup 2012 on Wednesday. She joggled up a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory against the world number 124 to advance into the round of 16 at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier event held taking place on clay courts in Charleston, South Carolina.
The gracious German found her rhythm after the opening set and eventually trashed Hlavackova in three sets in one hour and 53 minutes. Encountering each other for the first time, Lisicki not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the Czech but also booked a spot in the pre-quarters round at the Family Circle Tennis Center.
The 25-year-old thundered into this green clay court event and drew the first blood in the opening game. She maintained her intensity and after breaking Lisicki’s serve again, the Czech jumped to a 5-1 lead. Hlavackova slid her serve once more in the last game and sealed the opener by winning six games to two.
Lisicki re-structured in the follow-up set and held her serve in the opening game to take the initial lead. She continued hitting perfect shots down the line and swiped in remaining serves with poise. The German got the breakthrough in the eighth game and clinched the equaliser with a 6-3 score line.
Ranked 13th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Lisicki carried her winning ways in the final set and held her serve in the second games to tie the scores at 1-1. She earned the desiderated break in the fifth game and held remaining serves to pull out the decider with a 6-4 win.
Overall, the German spilled six double faults but struck nine aces to cover it up. She produced a poor first serve share of 43 per cent as opposed to the Czech’s 68 per cent but tremendously clicked 28 out of 33 points on it.
Up next for Lisicki is the Kazakhstani qualifier, Yaroslava Shvedova, who shocked the 12th seed, Yanina Wickmayer from Belgium, in straight sets to set-up this epic clash.
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