Sabina Lissitzky has by far the fastest serve in women's tennis. She is also a two-time Wimbledon finalist and winner of eight WTA tournaments (four of which were won in singles).
Childhood and first victories in adult tournaments
The date of birth of the tennis player Sabina Lissitzky is September 22, 1989, the place of birth is the German town of Troisdorf. Her parents emigrated to Germany from Poland ten years before her birth.
Sabina began to play tennis at the age of seven. It is interesting that in her junior years she lacked stars from the sky: during this period she managed to get only to the first hundred of the world rating. Sabina’s most notable achievement as a junior is the prize she received in 2005 at the Eddie Herr International tournament (in this tournament she reached the semifinals).
From the age of sixteen Sabina began to perform in adult competitions. And here the German, thanks to hard work on herself, pretty soon began to achieve good results. In 2007, she became a finalist three times in tournaments with a prize pool of $ 25, 000 and once in a tournament with a prize pool of $ 50, 000.
Tennis career from 2008 to 2013
In 2008, Lissitzky already had a sufficient rating to qualify for the Australian Open. And Sabina used this chance - she went through the selection almost without problems, and then showed a high class in the main draw. In the first round of the Australian Open 2008, she outplayed Dinara Safina, seeded at number 16 in this tournament. This allowed the German woman to enter the second round and meet with Ukrainian Maria Koryttseva there. This match also ended in a victory of Lissitzky. But the next rival - Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki - Sabina failed to get through. The Dane was stronger.
In autumn 2008, Lissitzky reached the finals of the WTA series tournament, held in Tashkent. However, in the match for the title she lost to the Romanian tennis player Sorana Kirsti.
In general, over the season, Lissitzky climbed 180 positions in the WTA ranking, entering the TOP-60.
The following year, Sabina continued to progress as an athlete. In February 2009, Sabina showed a brilliant game at the American tournament in Memphis. Here in the quarter-finals she beat the pretty strong Czech Lucia Shafarzhova. However, in the next, semifinal stage, Lissitzki still dropped out of the tournament.
In April 2009, Sabina finally managed to get the first title in her biography in the WTA series of tournaments. Lissitzky became the best on clay pavement in Charleston. During the tournament, she won against such stars as Marion Bartoli, Venus Williams and Carolina Wozniacki.
Since the end of 2009, Lisicki began to pursue injuries. At US Open 2009, in a game against Anastasia Rodionova, Sabina injured her ankle. And in March 2010, having received an ankle injury on her left leg, the German woman was forced to take a break in performances for a full five months.
After returning to the tennis court after recovery, Sabina for a long time could not reach the previous level of results. And this was reflected in the ranking - in it Lissitzky dropped to the third hundred.
In the spring of 2011, Lissitzky again began to demonstrate high-quality tennis. In a tournament in Stuttgart in April 2011, Lisicki, speaking in a duet with Samantha Stosur, won her first doubles title.
The following month, Sabina turned out to be the best in the WTA tournament in Birmingham, and then showed a good game in singles and doubles at Wimbledon. In the singles she reached the semifinals, and in the doubles (in tandem with Samantha Stosur) - to the finals.
In the summer, a series of successful performances was continued - Lissitzky reached the semifinals in the Bank of the West Classic tournament in Stanford.
Soon after, she was able to win the third title of the year - this time in Texas Grapevine. And here in five games she lost to her rivals only thirteen games.
And at the US Open 2011 she reached the 1/8 finals. In general, this season can be called the best in the career of Lissitzky.
In January 2012, Sabina performed well at the Australian Open - her path in this open championship ended in the fourth round.
In June 2012, the German athlete once again showed herself perfectly on the courts of Wimbledon, reaching the quarterfinals.
In 2013, Lissitzky was among the twenty strongest tennis players in the world. This year she happened to play in the three finals of prestigious tournaments. Especially striking was the performance of Lissitzky at Wimbledon. As part of the tournament, she was able to beat Agnieszka Radwanska and Serena Williams. Directly in the final, Lisicki met with Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. And it so happened that the German lost this match - with a score of 6: 1, 6: 4.
Sabina Lissitzky in recent years
In 2014, Sabina began to play in doubles tournaments together with the famous Swiss Martina Hingis, which paid off. In the March tournament in Miami, Hingis and Lissitzky won the doubles title, overcoming the resistance of Russian tennis players Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the decisive game.
And in the summer of 2014, Lissitzky set a record in the feed rate among women. This happened at a tournament in Stanford, in a match against Serb Ana Ivanovich. The ball after hitting Lissitzki gained speed of 210.8 km / h (the previous record - 209 km / h - belonged to Venus Williams). However, this did not save the German from defeat - it was Ivanovich who went to the next round.
In September 2014, Sabina became the champion in singles for the fourth time - this time the German did not leave her rivals a chance at the championship in Hong Kong. In the final, she confidently outplayed Karolina Plishkova - 6: 3, 7: 5.
On January 10, 2015, Lissitzky won her last title in WTA tournaments to date. And it was a doubles title. At a tournament in Australian Brisbane, she, along with the same Martina Hingis, defeated a pair of Caroline Garcia / Katarina Srebotnik.
In recent years, Sabina does not, unfortunately, show her best game. At the end of 2016, she was 93 in the world ranking of tennis players, at the end of 2017 - 245th, at the end of 2018 - 199th.
Performances for the German national team
After the first achievements in adult tennis, Lissitzky began to be invited to the German national team. In particular, she played for Germany several times in the Federation Cup.
Sabina's personal debut in this tournament took place in 2008 and turned out to be successful - she defeated the American Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinal stage. However, the next step was still the US team.
In 2014, Lissitzky made a significant contribution to the success of the German women's team, which reached the final of the Federation Cup. However, the Germans could not win in the final - tennis players from the Czech Republic were stronger here, the final score 3: 1 in their favor.
Lissitzky also has two appearances in the Hopman Cup - the main world-class competition for mixed couples. In 2009, her partner in this championship was Nicholas Kiefer, and in 2010 - Philip Kolschreiber. Unfortunately, both times the Germans could not go beyond the group stage.
In addition, in the summer of 2012, Sabina represented Germany in the tennis mixed tournament at the London Olympics. And here she, together with Christopher Kas, managed to get to the ½ finals, where they lost to the British Andy Murray and Laura Robson. The bronze match also ended in defeat for the Germans - the American couple Lisa Raymond / Mark Brian was stronger.
