Sabine Lisicki’s dream of a successful Wimbledon tournament has failed. The finalist from 2013 lost in the first round of qualification. Mona Barthel and Antonia Lottner played themselves against it into the second round – Tamara Korpatsch retired after a marathon match.
Lisicki, only number 185 in the ranking, had to admit defeat with 4:6, 6:7 (3:7) in the qualification of 19-year-old Anna Kalinskaya (WTA No. 147) outsourced to Roehampton. After 1:40 hours, the Russian turned her first match point.
Lisicki had led with a break in the first set and 4-2 on his own serve, but the 28-year-old was clearly aware of the lack of match practice in the decisive moments. In the second set she fought her way back with a break at 4:5 and Service Kalinskaya, but in the tiebreak the Russian kept her cool.
Lisicki had paused for about three months after an injury at the WTA tournament in Miami in March. It was not until the end of January that the Berliner returned to the tour after a successful knee operation. In 2017, she, once the world’s number twelve, also had to stay out for several months because of injuries to her leg or shoulder.
The qualification for Mona Barthel (5:7, 6:3, 6:4 against Fanny Stollar/Hungary) and Antonia Lottner (7:5, 6:4 against Francoise Abanda/Canada) started more successfully. Tamara Korpatsch, on the other hand, failed after a hard fight over 2:16 hours with 6:4, 5:7, 1:6 against the Japanese Ayano Shimizu.