Sabine Lisicki kicks off 2010 with a win

Stuttgart. Great start to the 2010 season for Sabine Lisicki: playing in the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, she was a convincing 6-4, 6-1 winner of her opening match against the Russian world No. 5 Elena Dementieva. The German from Berlin, who was a huge crowd favourite at the 2009 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, has high hopes for the new season. “I want to break into the top 20,” said Lisicki in an interview with “sport1.de”. “Once I’ve done that, I’ll start setting new goals.”

Sabine Lisicki is on the right track. Currently Germany’s best women player, her win at the one million dollar tournament in Charleston/USA meant that she was one of 2009’s top climbers. On top of this, there were also impressive performances at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and in Wimbledon, where she narrowly lost to Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals. Though her progress was halted in late summer by an injury, her overall record for the season was positive. “It was a fantastic year for me,” she continued. “I’ve gone from No. 60 to No. 22 in the rankings, I won my first tournament on the WTA Tour and I was a Grand Slam quarterfinalist for the first time.” Not to forget her appearance in the Luxembourg final upon returning from injury.

This year, she will not only be looking to continue her climb up the rankings but she also wants to come closer to achieving her biggest goal of winning a Grand Slam. “I’ve shown at lots of tournaments that I can not only hold my own with the top players but I can beat them too,” said Lisiki when interviewed by sport1.de. “At Wimbledon, I had my first experience of what it’s like getting to the second week of a Grand Slam. Now I’ll be working hard to fulfil my dream of winning a Grand Slam title as soon as possible.”

One stop on the way will be the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix from 24 April to 2 May. The spectators in Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena are looking forward to the reunion just as much as Sabine Lisicki is herself. “It’s a great tournament,” she said after her impressive performance in spring last year, “I’ll definitely be back.”

07/01/2010