Sabine Lisicki wins inaugural Hong Kong Open
German beats Karolina Pliskova in error-strewn final
Germany’s Sabine Lisicki won an error-strewn final to become the inaugural winner of the Prudential Hong Kong Open yesterday.
Lisicki defeated Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3 to be crowned champion and earn a winner’s purse of US$43,000.
The top-seeded Lisicki turned the match around in remarkable fashion after trailing Pliskova 1-5 in the opening set. She won the next six games in a row, breaking her opponent’s serve three times to win the opening set.
Lisicki rushed to a 4-1 lead in the second set before Pliskova came back and a break of serve in the seventh game allowed her to inch back to level terms at 4-3 with the set back on serve, But her relief was shortlived as the German broke back in the eighth game and then served out the match.
“It is unbelievable,” said Lisicki. “I made a last-minute decision to come to Hong Kong after I was offered a wild card and here I am winning the tournament.”
Both players made numerous errors in a strange first set. Lisicki, struggling to cope with the hot conditions on centre court at Victoria Park, double-faulted three times in the fifth game of the opening set to go down 1-4. But after taking a 5-1 lead, it was Pliskova’s turn to blunder.