Sabine Lisicki: The girl with a Midas touch on grass

Sabine Lisicki’s serve came as a breath of fresh air in an age which sees the predominant existence of fragile serves on the Tour

A top 10 place in the rankings seemed imminent, but four years later Lisicki is yet to break into that illustrious group, having reached a high of No. 12. That is because Lisicki’s game has its own pitfalls and quite a few times she has simply spiralled off into an abyss, with no clue of what she was doing on the court.

At those moments, her serve lays in tatters, her groundstrokes fly off the court without any restraint and her nerves jangle – yes, Lisicki has presented this despondent picture many a time, including this year at Charleston, which is the birthplace of all her triumphs.

But it is Wimbledon which weaves a magical labyrinth for her. Wonderfully trapped in it, Sabine seems to leave behind that erroneous, flawed avatar and comes out as a player whose audacity remains camouflaged by her sugary charm. She hadn’t won a singles title all year despite reaching two finals. But armed with Kim Clijsters‘s erstwhile coach Wim Fissette, even the prospect of facing the woman on a 34-match winning streak didn’t seem daunting to her.

The 2013 Roland Garros champion Serena, however, was different from all the French Open champions that had become her victims, as she is the last female player to have done the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double. Nobody knows better than her how fast the transition from the merciless clay to the lightning fast grass needs to be done.

From the outset, the 23rd-seeded German made her intentions clear. She was undeterred and not overawed by Serena’s status. Nicknamed ‘Boom Boom’, she constantly reminded tennis aficionados of her eminent Wimbledon-winning compatriot with booming serves – Boris Becker.

Serena’s normally reliable serve seemed a tad off and sensing it, Lisicki racked up her own number of winners – 35 winners to the world No. 1′s meagre 25. More spectacular was the way she steadied the ship after a disastrous second set where Serena was obviously expected to take control of the proceedings.

At 0-3 in the final set, Lisicki was fast heading into oblivion, but she still pulled the chain and steered the match her own way. An absolutely spellbinding display of off-forehands time and again landed right where Lisicki wanted them to and so did the serves. It was bewitching and beguiling! Lisicki’s anticipation, footwork, devastating speed, low returns – every single thing worked spot on and exposed the comparatively lethargic footwork of the five-time Wimbledon champion.

Even when she went three break points down while serving at 3-4 or when she had to serve out her match, Lisicki was a picture of enviable calm and poise except for the occasional outbursts of radiant smiles. And that is what has endeared her to the millions watching with bated breath.

“You have to play your best to beat her, but everybody’s a human being, so we’ll see what happens. I have nothing to lose.” – Sabine Lisicki

That she fully believed in herself despite knowing her opponent has one of the most lethal grass games is what is so admirable. And she totally affirmed it that very thing when she said before the match, “You have to play your best to beat her, but everybody’s a human being, so we’ll see what happens. I have nothing to lose.”

Sabine was right. In this vicious cycle of triumphs and losses, her momentous feat undoubtedly underlined how every venerable champion is merely a mortal at the end of the day and how far unflinching courage and positive attitude can push even the most overwhelming underdog.