WTA Berlin: Sabine Lisicki receives wild card for qualification
The main field at the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Berlin is terrific. And the qualification can also come up with at least one big name: Sabine Lisicki, Wimbledon finalist from 2013, can fight for a place in the main draw with a wildcard.
by p.m
last edit:
May 27, 2022, 01:31 pm
crowd favourite. First German finalist of a Grand Slam tournament after Steffi Graf. And after many injuries, now in her hometown Berlin before the WTA comeback on the big stage. Sabine Lisicki (32) receives a wild card for qualifying for the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Berlin. "I am very happy that Berlin will be part of my comeback on the WTA Tour. It's great that I can play in front of a home crowd in my home club," says Lisicki.
Ten players from the top ten and a total of 17 professionals from the top 20 have registered. The field of participants is led by the world number one Iga Swiatek (20). On the spectacularly beautiful facility of the LTTC "Rot-Weiss" in Berlin from June 11th to 19th, in addition to winning the tournament and valuable world ranking points, a total prize money of 757,000 US dollars is at stake.
Lisicki out of action with a cruciate ligament tear
For Lisicki, the main thing is to show her countless fans that she is still fighting with ambition to continue her tennis career. As a former player, Lisicki has a lot in common with the TTC “Rot-Weiss”. Therefore it was for the red and white president Dr. Dietrich Wolter was pleased to promise Lisicki the wild card available to the club: "Sabine was and is a great figurehead for our club and our sport. It is inspiring and admirable how self-sacrificingly Sabine works to play tennis successfully again without any problems. We are very happy to support them in this.”
In 2013, Sabine Lisicki was in the final of Wimbledon, losing to Marion Bartoli after a big fight. After that, she kept struggling with stubborn injuries. After a cruciate ligament tear, she had to take a break for 18 months. To be more precise: she was without a tournament game for 508 days.
But now she's attacking again and has secured match practice at ITF tournaments in recent months. "We are happy to be able to support Sabine on her way back with this wild card for the qualification," says tournament director Barbara Rittner, who as national coach in the DTB has been following Sabine Lisicki's eventful career very closely for years.
Lisicki turned professional in 2006 and has worked her way up to 12th place in the world rankings. Her powerful game, her hard serves - but also sharing her emotions - have made her a crowd favorite. Especially in Berlin, where she was athlete of the year twice.
Now the new start to new successes. At home.