Sabine Lisicki edges past Bojana Jovanovski into the third round – Wimbledon Championships 2012
World number 15, Sabine Lisicki, had to dodge an upset in her second round battle against the 117th ranked underdog Serbian, Bojana Jovanovski, at the All England Tennis and Croquet Club on Wednesday. The 22-year-old
German beauty had to recover from a one-set deficit to turn the tables on the unseeded Serbian, settling the match scores at 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 and earning a place in the third round of the Wimbledon Championships.
20-year-old Jovanovski was facing the 15th seeded German for the first time in her career and posted a solid resistance before succumbing in the decisive moments of the contest. She stretched the world number 15 to her
limits and an extended third set was required by Lisicki to finally put her efforts away. It was a treat to watch for the local crowd present in London, England, as both contenders exhibited an electrifying display of high quality tennis throughout the contest.
Lisicki didn’t start off in her desired fashion and the Serbian fully capitalised on her sloppy game play to get the early momentum in the contest. Jovanovski nailed a crucial break point to get in the driving seat and held her
lead intact until the conclusion of the opening set at 6-3. Lisicki was completely down and on the verge of an early exit from the coveted Grand Slam tournament but she lived to the expectations of the German fans to reel off the next two sets en route to
victory.
"I was a bit nervous, which I didn't expect in the beginning, so I didn't start off too well. But I kept fighting, and that's what counts in the end," delighted Lisicki said in her post match reviews. "I got through, so I get another
chance to play better tennis next time. We'll go out there and practice tomorrow, so I should be fine. It wasn't about the opponent, it was just playing at Wimbledon - I don't know, I was surprised by myself," the 2011 semi-finalist said. "But I handled it
well in the end, so I was fine."
Lisicki will play her third round clash against the unseeded American underdog, Sloane Stephens, later this week. Stephens stunned the 23rd seed Czech contender, Petra Cetkovska, 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3, in the second round
of the tournament on Wednesday. Other big names to fall out of the Wimbledon draw are the Australian number one, Samantha Stosur, and the former French Open champion, Li Na of China.
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