Sabine Lisicki trashes Lucie Safarova to secure first round victory – Brisbane International 2013
An exciting first round draw between the 37th ranked German, Sabine Lisicki, and the 25-year-old Czech, Lucie Safarova, didn’t live up to the expectations of the Aussie crowd on Monday. Both these players locked horns
on Monday and the 23-year-old German shocked the 17th ranked Czech in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Brisbane International.
Lisicki started the battle with a serve hold and so did her competitor. She stamped her authority by posting a series of points in her favour that allowed her to put her counterpart under immense pressure. Safarova nearly lost
a breakpoint in the fourth game. The German star dominated the show in the latter half of the opening set; won a couple of breakpoints to make sure that her opponent was given no opportunity at all to bounce back into the contest.
The left-handed Czech, who ended the last season at a high-note by winning both her Federation Cup matches to help her country retain the title, didn’t look to be enjoying the same run of form at the Pat Rafter Arena. It was a
terrible start according to her standards.
However, the 25-year-old Czech started to gather momentum at the start of the second set; picked up an early breakthrough and protected it smartly with a serve hold. She was cruising along at the scores of 3-2 when her opponent
showed some delightful skill set to win a breakpoint back that tied the scores at 3-3.
Moreover, Lisicki didn’t lose a single point on her following two serves whilst her opponent had to save two breakpoints in the next serve game. Safarova was under the cosh in the 10th game of the match; had to hold
serve to keep the match alive but the pressure took a toll on the Czech and she stumbled apart in the first encounter of the new season.
Lisicki ended the encounter with five aces and an impressive first and second serve conversion rate. World number one, Victoria Azarenka, is warming up to take the in-form German in the second round of the Brisbane International
on Tuesday.
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