WTA Stanford – Sunday Final Preview

Serena Williams vs. Sabine Lisicki

Former World No. 1 Serena Williams will take on German tennis sensation Sabine Lisicki in the semi-final of the 2011 Bank of the West Classic tournament. Lisicki is certainly in a good touch of late, but she will have to be careful as she is up against surging Serena Williams, who thrashed second-seed Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. Living up to her reputation of being a defiant fighter, former World No. 1 Serena Williams thrashed the No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 and stormed into the semifinals of the 2011 Bank of the West Classic, a WTA Premier Event, being played here at Stanford, California. With this win, Serena improved her career record against Sharapova to 7-2 and sent a strong message to her opponents that she is still a force to be reckoned with on the WTA tour.

In the semi-final, Serena will take on Sabine Lisicki of Germany who came back from a set deficit to rally past the No. 5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland with a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 scoreline in an enthralling quarterfinal match that took 2 hours and 34 minutes. This will be the first meeting between the two and hence we can expect an enticing contest.

After winning her quarterfinal match, Serena said, I've just been trying my hardest and practicing and trying to get back in the Top 100."She further added"I'm No.162 right now. It's a little crazy, but hopefully..."

On the other hand, Lisicki said, “I’m much better than I was before the injury.” She further added “I’ve had to focus on so many aspects of my game. Last year I couldn’t even walk. Now I feel I can rely on my serve when I need it at crucial moments.”

This promises to be an exhilarating encounter, and it will be intriguing to see how well Lisicki holds up against the American. Williams will be considered the favourite after her display against Sharapova, though Lisicki has enough firepower to make this a very close matchup.