Sabine Lisicki wins her first WTA title, beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4 in the Charleston final.
It was a dream week for the German youngster. She beat Venus Williams in the third round in straight-sets and followed it up with three other respectable wins in succession to take the title. Lisicki's game is something of a rarity these days for young European juniors. She's able to hit a consistently hard, deep and penetrating ball off both her forehand and her backhand, and can hit out-right winners from almost anywhere on the court off either wing.
The final itself was nothing short of a flashy, no-nonsense ballbasher coming out on-fire and completely obliterating a steady, hard working baseline grinder with no much in way of weapons. The match reminded me of La Borz' match against Dokic at the Australian Open this year. A ballbasher in Dokic, who can hit outright winners from the baseline off both sides with a big serve hammers a clueless Borz who has no choice but to moonball desperately in the hope that Dokic will suddenly start hitting a million unforced errors. It never happened, and what proceeded was a mammoth beat down. This final was similar, yet Lisicki came out gunning from the first point and didn't hand La Borz a cheap set.
Lisicki treated the junk and puff balls put up to her with severe disdain. The crushing forehand return of serve winners were breathtaking, as was her ability to hit such big winners from about a meter behind the baseline off either wing, especially off the forehand. What's refreshing about Lisicki compared to other extreme ballbashers over the years is the fact that she possesses excellent hands. She's able to hit some excellent short cross-court angled backhand's even under pressure, and her touch shots don't look ridiculously awkward. Her court sense is surprising for her game style. Her defense can be deceptively good too. Not in the Jankovic, or Radwanska sense but she's able to push the ball back from defensive positions quite deep in the court. A bit Safina like in that sense. It's probable though that her movement on fast surfaces lets her down.
She reminds me somewhat of Karolina Sprem circa '04, whom in the clay season of that year played some of the flashiest ballbashing tennis in living memory. In comparing the tow, one must say that Karolina's serve back then was better than Lisicki's. Karolina's 2nd serve was much more reliable and more consistently effective. Their first serve's was probably about equal.
What Sprem had over Lisicki in terms of slightly better defense(although again, Lisicki's defense isin't terrible on clay by any means), Lisicki makes up for in terms of tactical prowess. Her mid-court game is pretty average, but her court sense, dropshots and use of sharp cross-court backhand angles yesterday was astonishing for someone who plays such a flashy power game. Players usually have one or the other, not both.
The Venus vs Sprem match from Berlin '04 arguably involved some of the most outrageous shotmaking from anyone over the past few years. The big difference yesterday for Lisicki was Venus was quite in-and-out groundstroke-wise. A couple of random unforced errors here and there on the big points really did her in. Venus' movement looked a step slower than what it usually is on hardcourts and grass courts, although the Charleston surface does appear to be somewhat unstable. Venus will never get as many cheap point on her serve off clay as she would on even mid-paced hardcourts, so nothing new here. Lisicki served out of her mind in the second set tie-break in that third round - nothing could be done in the end.
Can Lisicki keep this form up for an extended period of time. Let's hope so. The game is in desperate need of players with games like Lisicki. So in conclusion, more game styles like Lisicki, less like La Borz. End of.
It was a dream week for the German youngster. She beat Venus Williams in the third round in straight-sets and followed it up with three other respectable wins in succession to take the title. Lisicki's game is something of a rarity these days for young European juniors. She's able to hit a consistently hard, deep and penetrating ball off both her forehand and her backhand, and can hit out-right winners from almost anywhere on the court off either wing.
The final itself was nothing short of a flashy, no-nonsense ballbasher coming out on-fire and completely obliterating a steady, hard working baseline grinder with no much in way of weapons. The match reminded me of La Borz' match against Dokic at the Australian Open this year. A ballbasher in Dokic, who can hit outright winners from the baseline off both sides with a big serve hammers a clueless Borz who has no choice but to moonball desperately in the hope that Dokic will suddenly start hitting a million unforced errors. It never happened, and what proceeded was a mammoth beat down. This final was similar, yet Lisicki came out gunning from the first point and didn't hand La Borz a cheap set.
Lisicki treated the junk and puff balls put up to her with severe disdain. The crushing forehand return of serve winners were breathtaking, as was her ability to hit such big winners from about a meter behind the baseline off either wing, especially off the forehand. What's refreshing about Lisicki compared to other extreme ballbashers over the years is the fact that she possesses excellent hands. She's able to hit some excellent short cross-court angled backhand's even under pressure, and her touch shots don't look ridiculously awkward. Her court sense is surprising for her game style. Her defense can be deceptively good too. Not in the Jankovic, or Radwanska sense but she's able to push the ball back from defensive positions quite deep in the court. A bit Safina like in that sense. It's probable though that her movement on fast surfaces lets her down.
She reminds me somewhat of Karolina Sprem circa '04, whom in the clay season of that year played some of the flashiest ballbashing tennis in living memory. In comparing the tow, one must say that Karolina's serve back then was better than Lisicki's. Karolina's 2nd serve was much more reliable and more consistently effective. Their first serve's was probably about equal.
What Sprem had over Lisicki in terms of slightly better defense(although again, Lisicki's defense isin't terrible on clay by any means), Lisicki makes up for in terms of tactical prowess. Her mid-court game is pretty average, but her court sense, dropshots and use of sharp cross-court backhand angles yesterday was astonishing for someone who plays such a flashy power game. Players usually have one or the other, not both.
The Venus vs Sprem match from Berlin '04 arguably involved some of the most outrageous shotmaking from anyone over the past few years. The big difference yesterday for Lisicki was Venus was quite in-and-out groundstroke-wise. A couple of random unforced errors here and there on the big points really did her in. Venus' movement looked a step slower than what it usually is on hardcourts and grass courts, although the Charleston surface does appear to be somewhat unstable. Venus will never get as many cheap point on her serve off clay as she would on even mid-paced hardcourts, so nothing new here. Lisicki served out of her mind in the second set tie-break in that third round - nothing could be done in the end.
Can Lisicki keep this form up for an extended period of time. Let's hope so. The game is in desperate need of players with games like Lisicki. So in conclusion, more game styles like Lisicki, less like La Borz. End of.
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