Comeback in the USA: Sabine Lisicki is back
After a forced break of one and a half years, former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki has celebrated her comeback.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: May 04, 2022, 09:10 am
Once a year, the idyllic town of Bonita Springs, located in the northwest of the sunny state of Florida, is the proud host of an ITF Tour tennis tournament. Many up-and-coming talents from all over the world cavort here under palm trees in the mild climate to collect important world ranking points. In order to be able to join the big traveling circus at some point, sooner or later.
However, Bonita Springs is also an interesting milestone for a well-known, already very established player. Because there, in the town of 55,000 near the Gulf of Mexico, the last comeback of a former Wimbledon finalist began on Monday – the return of Sabine Lisicki after a forced break of 539 days. Lisicki cried tears of joy after winning the first round qualifying match against Japan's Ena Shibahara 6-3 6-4 to cheering fans. "It was a great feeling to finally be back on the court in a real competitive match," said the 32-year-old, once dubbed "Bum-Bum-Bine" by the tabloids for her crashing, lightning-fast serves.
Lisicki: "I never gave up"
Since she lost to French Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon final in 2013, tennis life had become harder and harder for the Berliner with Polish roots. In many games she made the possible impossible. Making the impossible possible, as in the case of several strong Wimbledon missions, was more of a rarity. Many serious injuries were added, the blonde was involuntarily in doctor's offices or rehabilitation clinics more often than on the center court. Hardly any player had fate played as "many bad pranks as Sabine," said Chris Evert, the US icon.
Especially in the recent past, things got dramatic again for the former national player. She fell ill with glandular fever, and had previously had to endure an odyssey with doctors for months before the correct and at the same time devastating diagnosis was made. And then, after an agonizing comeback effort, a cruciate ligament rupture followed in November 2020 in Linz. With the result that Lisicki was only able to play an official game again now, in spring 2022 - from a world ranking of over a thousand. “I never gave up,” says Lisicki, “but it was tough, very tough. My patience was really tested. There were always setbacks that had to be digested.”
Lisicki: Dream goal grass season
In the meantime, many in the tennis world had hardly noticed her as an actor with ambitions, especially since she had already appeared in other roles. Last year, Lisicki impressed with her insider knowledge as an expert or co-commentator on “Tennischannel” and “Servus TV”. During the corona pandemic, she also posted a series of fitness videos on the YouTube platform. In Florida, she has been tinkering with the long-awaited return in secret for the past few months, with the IMG Academy in Bradenton once again serving as her “second home”. It was there that she once received important lessons from her longtime mentor and supporter, Nick Bollettieri.
A dream destination for Lisicki is literally obvious. The grass season, the new tournament in Berlin in the Steffi Graf Stadium. In 2013, after losing the Wimbledon final, she stood in the deserted Grunewald Arena and hoped that there would soon be another big event there. In 2021 she started as a TV woman, and this June Berlin tennis fans could see the player Lisicki again. "A wildcard has been reserved for Sabine for the qualification," says tournament manager Barbara Rittner, "of course we would be happy if she stayed healthy and fit until then."
In Bonita Springs, Lisicki's path came to an end: In round 2 of the qualification, she lost 6-2, 6-2 to top seed Gabriela Lee.