STANFORD, CALIF. — Three promising Germans may not amount to one Steffi Graf, but the long-deprived European nation is undoubtedly enjoying its current tennis renaissance. With three women making noise in the top 30 — No. 11 Andrea Petkovic, No. 20 Julia Goerges and No. 26 Sabine Lisicki – Germany hasn’t seen results like these since the 22-time Slam champ Graf called it quits in ’99.
“Two years ago, I was the only one who brought tennis back up,” said Lisicki, 21, who booked a trip to the Bank of the West Classic semifinals with a 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2 win over No. 5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Friday afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center. “Now it’s a lot better with three girls, because it’s impossible for one person to play perfect from January to November. People constantly have one of us at least to look at and support.”
Lisicki, who captured her second career title at Birmingham and followed that up with a career-best semifinal showing at Wimbledon (where she impressively power-served her way past Li Na before falling to Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3), says she won’t be burdened by any expectations from her success-starved countrymen.
“I don’t take it on my shoulders,” said Lisicki, who, after being sidelined with a left ankle injury in 2010, has risen nearly 200 spots in the rankings since the beginning of March. “Steffi did an unbelievable job. She did amazing. Now it’s a different time. I just want to focus on myself and do the best that I can do. I know I’m working hard. I’m doing everything I can. That’s most important to me. We’ll see where I end up.”
