The last german hopefuls tommy haas and sabine lisicki are in the eighth finals at wimbledon.
The 35-year-old tennis veteran beat spanish player feliciano lopez 4:6, 6:2, 7:5, 6:4 to reach the final of his 14th tournament. Wimbledon participation for the third time the round of the best 16. Lisicki won 4:6, 6:2, 6:1 against former US open winner samantha stosur after a nervous start and losing the first set as well. The 23-year-old from berlin celebrated her second victory on center court after 100 minutes in her sixth duel with the australian.
In the battle for a place in the quarterfinals, duels with the best in the business now await. Haas faces world number one novak djokovic from serbia on monday. Lisicki plays on the same day in her favorite grand slam against the american number one serena williams. Djokovic had no trouble against jeremy chardy from france 6:3, 6:2, 6:2. Williams beat 42-year-old japanese kimiko date-krumm 6:2, 6:0 to celebrate her 600th career victory. Singles win of her career.
Haas and djokovic face off for the third time this year. Haas last lost in the quarterfinals of the french open, and in march he won the eighth finals of the masters tournament in miami. "I’m looking forward to it," said haas.
Lisicki, too, is not afraid of a showdown with the hitherto dominant williams. "I have nothing to lose," she said. Liscki reached the semifinals of the grass-court classic in london in 2011 and the quarterfinals in both 2009 and 2012. "It’s great to have reached the second week again. The first three rounds weren’t easy," said lisicki, referring to her opponents francesca schiavone, jelena wesnina and now stosur.
But against the six-year-old winner of the 2011 US open, the fed cup player’s record threatened to be tarnished at first. On the center court, which was sparsely filled at the beginning, lisicki acted hastily, nervously and too impatiently. She started the match with an ace, but then made too many mistakes. After 28 minutes the australian had decided the first set.
But the more crowded the world’s most famous tennis arena became, the better lisicki played. Plotz came her first impacts with speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour. When she took a 1-0 lead in the third set and scored the point at 15-0 with a very emotional stop ball, even national coach barbara rittner jumped up from her seat and clenched her fingers into a fist.
With shouts of "come on" and "come now", the number 24 in the rankings motivated himself again and again. With a 5:2 lead in the second set, she had to get treatment for a cut on her finger. She did not lose her game – on the contrary. Lisicki immediately broke for 2-0 in the third and took her first match point after 1:40 to win the match.
Haas also improved considerably on the so-called show court 2. His opponent had travelled to the tournament with the recommendation of his victory in eastbourne. The left-hander is considered one of the most dangerous spanish pros on grass – and he demonstrated that against the world number 13. Haas. "I knew it wasn’t going to be easy," said haas. But the american player of choice kept his cool and used his first match point after 2:22 hours for a well-deserved success.