BERLIN: Former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki is working on her comeback after injuries and illness have seen her drop out of the top 500 in the women’s tennis rankings. “Of course you have one or two tournaments in your head that you would like to play at. But for me it is really a top priority to comeback fit,” she said in an interview. “I would rather wait a week or two weeks longer than start a week early.” Lisicki, 30, feels close to a return to top-flight tennis but will not travel to the Australian Open next month. Laid low with glandular fever, she said she needed to build up fitness continuously without rushing to get back to former levels. “We are doing it just as the doctors advised,” she said. “So far, everything has been going very well. Australia is definitely too early, I still need time to set it up.”
The former world ranked 12th, who underwent surgery on her knee in 2017 and suffered a foot injury in 2018, announced in September she had been suffering from glandular fever. She played her last match at the end of July this year at a small tournament in Karlsruhe, Germany. Sitting out the Australian Open was “tough,” said Lisicki, who lost to Marion Bartoli in France in the Wimbledon final in 2013 and is now only 563rd in the world rankings. She said she no thoughts of resigning during the break. “I really missed the tennis court and the playing,” she said. “And the passion for my sport is just too great, the fire is still there. I always say: Get up more than you fall.” — DPA
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