Two rain delays and a very spirited effort from an up-and-coming 18-year-old could not dampen the spirits—nor the serve—of grass guru Sabine Lisicki on Wednesday in Birmingham.
Lisicki powered through the WTA’s record for most aces in a match and threw in a few extra for good measure during her 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Belinda Bencic.
Lisicki’s 27 aces tops the WTA's all-time main draw record, which was shared by Kaia Kanepi and Serena Williams, by three. Kanepi launched 24 aces in a three-set win over Lucie Safarova at Tokyo in 2008, while Williams tagged 24 in a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory over Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon in 2012.
Alexandra Stevenson once hit 25 aces during qualifying at Quebec City in 2013.
Lisicki hit 16 aces in the opening set, and added 11 in the second. She won 41 of 48 first-serve points in total.
“It’s nice to have another record,” Lisicki said after the match (she hadn't realized she'd broken the record until she was informed by her interviewer). “It’s obviously nice. It’s a good weapon to have on grass especially. I love being in England and I love playing on grass—it’s just so nice to be back.”
Lisicki broke the WTA record for fastest serve last season when she unleashed a 131 MPH vs. Ana Ivanovic at Stanford last year.
“I saw one of my serves was 131 [today],” she said during her interview, with a laugh. “That would have broken another record but unfortunately I missed it by a couple of inches.”
Lisicki later posted a celebratory tweet, while Ivan Ljubicic (current coach of sleeve-wearing Milos Raonic) replied with a recommendation: