Sharapova digs deep to down Lisicki

Updated January 23, 2012 23:39:39

Maria Sharapova needed all of her experience to overcome a determined Sabine Lisicki 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

The fourth-seeded Russian won the opening three games but suddenly lost her mojo as the German reeled off the next six games to seize the first set and seemingly all the momentum.

But Sharapova fought back in the second set and then scrapped tooth and nail in the third game of the third to hold serve before she broke 14th seed Lisicki in the sixth, which ultimately set up her victory.

Sharapova will next meet countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova after the world number 56 caused the upset of the tournament by thrashing five-times champion Serena Williams 6-2, 6-3.

"I had lots of ups and downs today so I was fortunate to finish on a high note," Sharapova said afterwards.

"I got it together in the second set, but the third was a battle.

"She was a good opponent and playing with confidence. I'm happy that although I didn't play my best tennis I hung in there.

"It's a step further than last year."

Lisicki felt the difference in the match was Sharapova pulling out big serves when she needed them.

"Unfortunately she made some great serves in the third set when I had some break points and there's not much I can do when she does that," Lisicki said.

"I'm taking lots of positive things out of here and I'll keep building on it."

Reuters

Tags: australian-open, tennis, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted January 23, 2012 22:29:03

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Lisicki survives in Auckland

Updated January 04, 2012 19:29:11

Top seed Sabine Lisicki overcame a 90-minute delay for heavy rain that halted her momentum to scratch out a tough three-set victory over fellow German Mona Barthel in the second round of the Auckland WTA event.

The 22-year-old had broken Barthel to take a 6-5 lead in the first set and seemed to be getting on top of the match before rain swept across central Auckland and forced the players from the court.

They returned about 90 minutes later but the momentum the world number 15 had before the break also dissipated and she was broken to force the set into a tie-break, which she won 7-3.

Barthel rallied to overcome a 0-2 deficit in the second set as neither player seemed to able to hold serve, and Lisicki's swinging second serve on set point down failed to find the centre line, forcing a decider.

Lisicki raced out to a 3-0 lead in the final set, which was more than enough of an advantage for her to hang on to and she sealed victory on her second match point when Barthel's backhand cross court smacked into the net.

The other seeded players in the second round were not so lucky in the day session with only fourth seed Flavia Pennetta advancing to the quarter-finals after she beat Briton Elena Baltacha 6-4, 6-2.

Second seed Peng Shuai, fifth seed Julia Goerges, sixth seed Roberta Vinci and eighth seed Monica Niculescu all lost.

Meanwhile, Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Christina McHale of United States 6-1, 6-1.

Reuters

Tags: sport, tennis, new-zealand

First posted January 04, 2012 18:18:35

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Sharapova, Lisicki set-up big-hitting semi

Updated June 29, 2011 08:11:00

Big-hitting duo Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki set-up a mouth-watering Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday morning with the Russian golden girl impressively hammering home her title credentials.

Fifth seed Sharapova, the 2004 champion, and now the overwhelming favourite for the title following the fourth round defeats of Serena and Venus Williams, brushed aside Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1 in her quarter-final.

Lisicki, the first German woman to make the semi-finals since Steffi Graf in 1999, and only the second wildcard to reach the last four, saw off French ninth seed Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1.

Cibulkova, who had stunned world number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the last 16, never looked like repeating that upset against Sharapova.

"It's an honour to be in the semi-final. It's a few years since I've got past the fourth round so it's a great chance to take it a step further," said Sharapova, who believes she has got stronger as the tournament has progressed.

"I certainly feel like I've improved, especially from my second round. I think that's really important if you want to get to the later stages," she said.

"You have to step it up because the matches will only get tougher and you're going to be playing better players."

Lisicki, whose career went into a tailspin when an ankle injury left her barely able to walk, is determined to capitalise on her shock run, just in case it's her last opportunity.

The 21-year-old recovered from wasting three match points in the second set to defeat Bartoli, the 2007 runner-up, who had defeated four-time winner Serena Williams in the fourth round.

Lisicki had already been a quarter-finalist in 2009 before disaster struck in 2010 when an ankle injury picked up in Miami sidelined her for five months and sent her ranking plummeting to 218.

"I'm more experienced and calmer. Two years ago it was different. I was more nervous. I couldn't sleep so good," said the German.

"But now it's different. After the injury, I know how fast it can be gone. I just try to enjoy every minute that I'm on the court."

Lisicki fired 52 winners past Bartoli and hit the 121mph serving mark just as she had done when she knocked out China's French Open winner Li Na in the second round.

Thursday's other semi-final will see Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova face Belarus's Victoria Azarenka.

Fourth seed Azarenka buried her grand slam quarter-final jinx to reach her first Wimbledon semi, defeating Austria's Tamira Paszek in a match played on two different courts.

Azarenka had lost all of her previous four quarter-finals at the majors, but the 21-year-old shook off that record to win 6-3, 6-1 against her unseeded opponent.

She dedicated the win to her mother who was celebrating her birthday on Tuesday.

"I wanted to give her a good gift, I wanted to play beautifully," said Azarenka, who has lost her last two matches to Kvitova - here in the third round in 2010 and in May's Madrid Masters final on clay.

"Petra is a great player. The grass suits her, she has a huge serve. I will have to play my best tennis."

The match had started on Court One but after Paszek had won the first game, the contest was suspended at 1820 GMT because of the slippery conditions caused by the heavy rain which had disrupted the day's schedule.

One hour later, the two players resumed the contest but this time under the roof of Centre Court.

Kvitova secured a second successive semi-final spot with a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 win over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.

Kvitova, who could become the first left-hander to win the women's title since Martina Navratilova in 1990, had dropped just 15 games in her first four matches.

Pironkova, a semi-finalist last year and who put out five-time champion Venus Williams on Monday, pushed Kvitova but the 32nd seed was out-muscled.

"I am so happy to be in the semi-final. I made some mistakes in the second set and was a bit down mentally," said Kvitova.

"It's great to be back in the semi-final and now I have more experience of the Centre Court."

Jana Novotna was the last Czech woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish awarded to the women's champion back in 1998.

- AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, england

First posted June 29, 2011 05:56:00

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