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Sabine Lisicki beats injury and Shvedova to reach Wimbledon quarters Sabine Lisicki beats injury and Shvedova to reach Wimbledon quarters
(about 1 hour later)
Sabine Lisicki battled through the pain to advance to the Wimbledon quarter-finals despite an injury that caused the German to double fault 20 times against Yaroslava Shvedova. Last year’s beaten finalist and No19 seed will play Simona Halep in the last eight at SW19. Sabine Lisicki defended her decision to call a medical time-out at a decisive moment during her fourth-round victory over Yaroslava Shvedova. She received treatment at break point down and came back to secure a place in the quarter-finals against Simona Halep despite serving 20 double faults in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
Lisicki progressed in controversial circumstances on No3 Court, with her involvement in serious doubt midway through the third set during a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory. However, Lisicki fought back after taking a lengthy time out to receive shoulder treatment and now faces Halep, the French Open runner-up and third seed, for the first time in a grand slam. Halep and Lisicki will battle it out to join Lucie Safarova in the semi-finals, following the Czech’s victory over Ekaterina Makarova. However, Lisicki’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 success was not without controversy.
The German took the opening set 6-3 but Shvedova fought back to win the second 6-3 before a decider that swung both ways. Lisicki controversially called for a doctor at advantage down on her own serve with the score at 1-1 but after a lengthy break took the game and appeared reinvigorated. The German, last year’s beaten finalist, was advantage down at 1-1 in the deciding set and appeared in severe discomfort, clutching her lower back and struggling to generate any power on serve. Lisicki signalled to the umpire that she could not continue without treatment, leaving Shvedova visibly frustrated.
Shvedova, from Kazakhstan, was powerful from the back of the court and may kick herself for squandering an excellent opportunity to reach the last eight for the first time. The No19 seed received lengthy medical attention on her right shoulder before returning to action. She survived the break point and won the third set 6-4, although there were several breaks of serve for each player before the end.
Indeed, the world No65 could not capitalise on some tame serving from Lisicki, who during the third set could only muster the strength to loop second serves over that were regularly below 65mph. She won only 25% of the points on her second serve. Lisicki won only 25% of points on her second serve and she was regularly hitting tame efforts at around 60mph. Her count of 20 double faults is the third most in the history of ladies’ singles at Wimbledon.
The final set contained four breaks of serve but Shvedova’s rhythm seemed disrupted and she conceded three match points at 5-4 down, netting at 40-30 as Lisicki crumpled to the floor. “The timing was very unfortunate. I hit a ball before, and it just went into my back. I tried to keep going, I played a few points but I wasn’t able to lift my arm,” she said. “I mean it was obvious. I was serving, what, 50mph or something? I don’t remember if I ever served that slow in my life before. So that’s why I had to call the trainer, I just couldn’t lift my arm anymore.
Unfortunately for the German, she will need to recover swiftly and is set to return to action on Wednesday for her quarter-final with Halep. The Romanian was in fine form to dispatch the world No72, Zarina Diyas, 6-3, 6-0, edging the opener before steamrolling her young opponent in the second. “I tried to play a few more points. I called before already for the trainer, then I played a few more points and I just wasn’t able to. You know how I serve. That was not nearly what I could do. I just couldn’t lift my arm.”
The final set contained four breaks but Shvedova’s rhythm seemed disrupted and she conceded three match points at 5-4 down, netting at 40-30 as Lisicki crumpled to the floor.
The Australian coach Darren Cahill, who has worked with Andy Murray, tweeted: “Just for the record, if you need to call a trainer mid game, no matter what the score, you should be forced to forfeit that game, imo. Sabine is playing within the rules but we need to address them. Unfair to opponents. If the injury needs immediate attention, lose that game.”
Lisicki added: “I just know I’m honest. I really tried to play several more points, that’s what I tried. I have a big respect for my opponent. It’s the first time that I had to do this ever. I have a huge respect for her, we played a tight match before. I feel lucky that I got away with it, with serving 60mph serves. I think it was very visible.”
Lisicki now faces Halep for the first time in a grand slam, the Romanian taking just 57 minutes to overcome Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan. Halep was in fine form to dispatch Diyas 6-3, 6-0, edging the opener before steamrolling her young opponent in the second set.
Diyas, 20, stayed in touch early on but became increasingly frustrated as the match progressed. The promising world No72 was comprehensively outplayed in the second and regularly looked to her coaches in frustration.
Sarafova, the No23 seed, took 58 minutes to beat Makarova 6-3, 6-1, with the Russian no match for the Czech’s serve on No1 Court. It is her best performance in a grand slam, after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 2007 and the last 16 at Roland Garros this year.