Lisicki is a champion again, 3 years after knee reconstruction surgery
Former world No. 12 Sabine Lisicki put the gloss on a remarkable return from injury on Sunday, rejoining the winner’s circle for the first time in almost a decade with victory on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W60+H Calgary.
Lisicki, who underwent knee reconstruction surgery in November 2020 and only returned to competitive action in May 2022, won an emotional seventh professional singles title after a 7-6(2) 6-7(5) 6-3 win over Canadian Stacey Fung.
The 34-year-old German, who described her triumph as ‘surreal’ in a post on Instagram, added that “all the tears, pain, hard work paid off in the end. It was so worth it [sic]!”
Lisicki’s triumph was her first professional title since she won the WTA event in Hong Kong in September 2014, and her first tournament victory at ITF level since she won - also on Canadian soil - at W25 Toronto in November 2007.
As well as being a former Top 20 player, Lisicki’s career highlights include reaching both the singles and doubles finals at Wimbledon. She fell to Marion Bartoli in a stunning run to the title decider at the All England Club in 2013, two years after she and Sam Stosur finished second to Kveta Peschke and Katarina Strebotnik in the women’s doubles final.
Her latest success might well be sweeter than those achievements, such was the resilience and courage she displayed in returning from a career-threatening injury.
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The triumph sees Lisicki climb 95 places in the WTA rankings to No. 281 in the world – and deliver plenty of optimism alongside it.
Elsewhere this weekend, American Emma Navarro emphatically swept the field at W100 Charleston, dropping just seven games all week to win her fifth title of the year and second at W100 level in Charleston.
“I’ve been having a lot of fun on the court,” Navarro told the Post and Courier. “And I think that’s shown in how I’ve played and the results I’ve had.”
On Greek soil, 16-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova continued her prolific season at ITF level – winning her sixth title of the year at W40 Heraklion after dispatching Ekaterina Makarova.
Fruhvirtova, remarkably, already has 14 titles to her name on the ITF World Tennis Tour - all while still four months shy of her 17th birthday.
For all the latest women's results on the ITF World Tennis Tour, click here