By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, June 24, 2014

 

It's been a ho-hum 2014 for Sabine Lisicki, but the German came to life in her Wimbledon opener, downing Julia Glushko in straight sets.

Photo Source: Al Bello/Getty

Sabine Lisicki may not be the defending champion at the All England Club, but the bomb-serving German did a rather nice impersonation of one as she Opened Centre Court on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Israel’s Julia Glushko.

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“Unbelievable honor and huge privilege,” Lisicki said of the experience of opening Tuesday on Centre Court in the spot that is typically reserved for the tournament’s defending women’s singles champion. Due to Marion Bartoli’s retirement, the tournament was forced to decide between its last champion (Serena Williams) or last year’s runner-up.

Lisicki, who defeated Williams in the round of 16 last year at Wimbledon, was thankful that it was her.

“I enjoyed every minute of it,” she said.

After a slightly nervous start, Lisicki hit her stride and began to dominate. The world No. 19, who has reached the quarterfinals or better in each of her last four Wimbledon appearances, struck 17 winners to only four for Glushko, and broke serve six times on 16 opportunities.

“It was different,” said Lisicki. “When you come back to the place that you played your first Grand Slam final at the tournament that you love the most – it’s always going to be special.”

Lisicki, whose booming serve reached 122 MPH on the radar at times on Tuesday, won 13 of 18 points of the net in claiming her 20th Wimbledon win against only five losses.

Though she’s only 9-8 on the year, the German appears to be brimming with confidence now that she’s back on the Wimbledon lawns that she cherishes the most.

“It’s not only last year, but the year before that and the year before that. I’ve always done so well, so I just have a huge amount of confidence here because I’ve always played well. Also the crowd always helps me to relax and enjoy it so much. It’s a big thank you for them as well.”

In other first-round action on Monday, Maria Sharapova trounced Samantha Murray 6-1, 6-0 in under an hour, while Agnieszka Radwanska finished off Andreea Mitu, 6-2, 6-1.

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