Tearful Lisicki taken away on stretcher, Li battles on
Source: Agencies |
May 27, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
OVERCOME by dizziness and muscle cramps during a 2?-hour match, German qualifier Sabine Lisicki was helped onto a stretcher and taken off Court 1 at the French Open on Wednesday after losing to Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the second round.
A trainer examined the 21-year-old Lisicki at least twice during third-set changeovers, even wrapping a black gauge around her right arm to check her blood pressure.
When the match ended shortly before 9pm, Lisicki didn't go shake hands, instead crouching down on court. Zvonareva - the runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open last year - walked around the net and checked on Lisicki, putting a hand on her shoulder. A sobbing Lisicki then lay down on a towel placed on the red clay, and a trainer massaged her back until the stretcher arrived.
As she was carried off, Lisicki covered her face with her left hand. She met with a doctor, and was to get additional medical tests, tournament officials said.
"I started cramping at the end of the second set, and this continued in the third," Lisicki said in a statement released by the WTA. "From 4-2 in the third set, I began to feel dizzy and had problems seeing the ball clearly. At no point did I think of retiring, and I kept fighting until the end."
Lisicki, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2009, held serve for a 5-2 lead in the third set and in the next game was one point away from winning the match. But she sent a forehand return long there and never again held a match point, dropping the last five games.
After getting broken while serving for the match at 5-3, Lisicki asked to see a trainer. During an extended break, she ate an energy bar and banana and drank liquids; Zvonareva bounced around at the baseline to stay warm, then eventually took some practice serves.
Crying
When action resumed, the third-seeded Russian won eight of the next nine points to go up 6-5.
Across the net, Lisicki began crying. She did keep playing, though, and managed to fend off two match points, including the second with a forehand winner. But Lisicki barely sent a backhand wide at the end of a 22-stroke exchange, then crouched down, nearly taking a seat on the court. On Zvonareva's third match point, a backhand sailed long off Lisicki's racket.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray huffed and puffed past Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 yesterday to book his place in the third round.
The fourth-seeded Briton showed signs of irritation but twice came back from a break down in the opener to force a tiebreak he won 7-3 as Bolelli made a flurry of unforced errors. Murray also dropped serve in the second and third sets, but managed to raise his game when it mattered to seal victory with a backhand winner down the line after two hours 51 minutes.
China's world No. 6 Li Na and No. 9 Petra Kvitova on the women's side advanced.
Li beat Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-4, 7-5, and Kvitova defeated two-time grand slam semifinalist Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 6-1.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 15 Andrea Petkovic of Germany, No. 21 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and No. 25 Maria Kirilenko of Russia also advanced to the third round, while No. 27 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania lost.
Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling beat Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Also, No. 16 Fernando Verdasco of Spain won, but No. 20 Florian Mayer of Germany lost to Alejandro Falla of Colombia and No. 24 Sam Querrey of the United States lost to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.
A trainer examined the 21-year-old Lisicki at least twice during third-set changeovers, even wrapping a black gauge around her right arm to check her blood pressure.
When the match ended shortly before 9pm, Lisicki didn't go shake hands, instead crouching down on court. Zvonareva - the runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open last year - walked around the net and checked on Lisicki, putting a hand on her shoulder. A sobbing Lisicki then lay down on a towel placed on the red clay, and a trainer massaged her back until the stretcher arrived.
As she was carried off, Lisicki covered her face with her left hand. She met with a doctor, and was to get additional medical tests, tournament officials said.
"I started cramping at the end of the second set, and this continued in the third," Lisicki said in a statement released by the WTA. "From 4-2 in the third set, I began to feel dizzy and had problems seeing the ball clearly. At no point did I think of retiring, and I kept fighting until the end."
Lisicki, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2009, held serve for a 5-2 lead in the third set and in the next game was one point away from winning the match. But she sent a forehand return long there and never again held a match point, dropping the last five games.
After getting broken while serving for the match at 5-3, Lisicki asked to see a trainer. During an extended break, she ate an energy bar and banana and drank liquids; Zvonareva bounced around at the baseline to stay warm, then eventually took some practice serves.
Crying
When action resumed, the third-seeded Russian won eight of the next nine points to go up 6-5.
Across the net, Lisicki began crying. She did keep playing, though, and managed to fend off two match points, including the second with a forehand winner. But Lisicki barely sent a backhand wide at the end of a 22-stroke exchange, then crouched down, nearly taking a seat on the court. On Zvonareva's third match point, a backhand sailed long off Lisicki's racket.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray huffed and puffed past Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 yesterday to book his place in the third round.
The fourth-seeded Briton showed signs of irritation but twice came back from a break down in the opener to force a tiebreak he won 7-3 as Bolelli made a flurry of unforced errors. Murray also dropped serve in the second and third sets, but managed to raise his game when it mattered to seal victory with a backhand winner down the line after two hours 51 minutes.
China's world No. 6 Li Na and No. 9 Petra Kvitova on the women's side advanced.
Li beat Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-4, 7-5, and Kvitova defeated two-time grand slam semifinalist Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 6-1.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 15 Andrea Petkovic of Germany, No. 21 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and No. 25 Maria Kirilenko of Russia also advanced to the third round, while No. 27 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania lost.
Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling beat Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Also, No. 16 Fernando Verdasco of Spain won, but No. 20 Florian Mayer of Germany lost to Alejandro Falla of Colombia and No. 24 Sam Querrey of the United States lost to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.
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