Serena Williams vs Sabine Lisicki: A battle for the ages

Serena Williams had no answer to Lisicki’s big serves.

The trend continued in the first game of the third set, with Lisicki again erring on the forehand side. Serena served at Lisicki’s body, cramping Lisicki’s return and forcing errors. One trend was predominant during the course of the match – Serena was reluctant to approach the net, wary of Lisicki’s accurate, passing shots and cautious of Lisicki hitting behind her. Lisicki’s first serve deserted her again in the initial stages of the third set as Serena again stepped into the baseline to blast winners on the return of serve.

Lisicki’s serve was broken in the second game and things did not look good for the German. In the third game, a tremendous passing shot helped her to get at 15-all, but Serena comfortably held serve to lead 3-0 in the decider. She finally managed to turn around the corner in the third game. With a strong first serve, she managed to outwit Williams with an unexpected second serve ace and opened her account in the final set.

In the next game, a beautiful passing shot and an unexpected net bounce gave her a glimmer of hope and she dug deep to break. Williams broke again and the score was 4-2, in favour of the American. In the next game, Serena cautiously approached the net, only to be greeted by a fabulous passing forehand. Serena desperately stuck out her racquet, but tumbled and fell.

It was a break-of-serve slugfest at Wimbledon with the Centre Court crowd at the edge of their seats. The next game witnessed a flurry of excellent returns of serve from the American, setting up three break points in succession. But Lisicki’s aced her way to safety, reeling off four straight points. She then served up another ace in what turned out to be a very crucial hold-of-serve for the German. With the score tied at 4-4, it was game on at SW19, with the Centre Court crowd wowed by the ever-smiling, energetic nature of the German.

The ninth game turned out to be the most entertaining one of the match. Another passing winner by Lisicki helped her to garner a break point, but threw away the advantage by netting a Williams serve. Lisicki’s attempted drop shot fell farther into the court than she intended and Williams instantly took off, but slipped. She recovered to return the ball and stumbled towards the net, but Lisicki smacked the ball straight down the middle of the court to have advantage again.

The advantage then translated to a break of serve when Serena’s smash turned out to be long. Lisicki had orchestrated a remarkable comeback from 0-3 down to lead 5-4 in the match. With a place in the quarterfinals up for grabs, the German was serving for the match. She began by serving out wide, forcing Williams to hit a tough return that eventually landed into the net. An encore yielded match point at 40-30 for the Smiling Assassin.

Serena then hit back to gain a break point which Lisicki canceled out with an ace. She then closed out the match with a forehand winner at the net and sunk to the ground in tears.

It was a tremendous display of power-hitting, big-serving tennis that concluded with the better player emerging triumphant. The spirit of sport triumphed when Serena waited until her opponent packed her bags, and both players left the court together as the crowd rapturously applauded.