Berlin – Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki is not afraid of the growing expectations surrounding her and is striving to end the season among the WTA's best eight players.
“The is relatively realistic,” said the 23-year-old Berlin resident in an interview with dpa.
“Of course I have to play very well in the rest of the season in order to get there, since only the best eight get there,” said Lisicki, who is currently at number nine in the year's ranking.
“I'll fight for that at all costs. When you see the one-digit number, that's just an additional incentive.”
In the initial days after her defeat at the Grand Slam tournament final in London and her return home, Germany's tennis queen had barely a chance to catch her breath. Reporters were waiting for her at the airport, then on Monday she gave a press conference, and further photo sessions and interviews were held on Tuesday and Wednesday with the country's biggest media outlets.
It was only at the end of the week that she was able to enjoy “two, three days completely free.”
“I'm going to meet friends here in Berlin, go shopping, the normal routine. I'm going to let my body revitalize, and my head too.”
By Monday at the latest she is to begin training for the hard court season in Florida.
After her sensational weeks in Wimbledon, marked by wins against five-time tournament victor Serena Williams and world-ranked number four Agnieszka Radwanska, Lisicki knows all too well that the pressure and the public recognition are growing immensely. Now she has to replicate on the other surfaces the extraordinary results she had on grass.
“In principle, by next year's clay court season I don't have very many points to defend. That is also nice, because I can go upwards and a step further forward,” Lisicki said.
She is still Germany's number two behind Angelique Kerber. And while Kerber is finding being German number one a bit of a burden, Lisicki has no fear of the role.
“I've already been German number one and had that pressure,” Lisicki said. “It's difficult at the beginning, it's something new. But since then I've seen that in reality the pressure is a privilege. That means too that people really believe in your strength, that you can win.”
Despite this, she has no concrete plan for the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. Her best result so far in the US Open was the 2011 round before the quarter-final.
“Now with the self-confidence that I got out of Wimbledon I want to play again,” she said. Before Flushing Meadows (August 26 to September 8) she will probably play tournaments in Toronto (August 5-11) and in Cincinnati and New Haven.
“Preparation will be important for me. Because of that, I want to take a bit of time to let my body recover a bit and then have a good preparation,” Lisicki said. – Sapa-dpa