PARIS, May 23, 2016

Sabine Lisicki has become known to the tennis world as a girl, who seems to enjoy spending her time on the court. She made her way into the Wimbledon final 2013 with a lot of laughing during her matches.

In Paris on Monday simply the opposite was the case. The 26-year-old German lost to world number 160 Véronica Cepede Royg from Paraguay 2-6, 2-6 in only 59 minutes on a fully packed court 15. Nothing seemed to work out.

“I didn’t have a good feeling on court today. I simply didn’t have any fun out there,” Lisicki told afterwards and added that she found a new coach after she had parted ways with Christopher Kas.

“I have started to work with Salvador Navarro. He arrived in Paris two days ago. We had a trial period together in Rome and it was very good. He exprienced a lot of ups and downs with Flavia Pennetta. I enjoy working with him but the main thing is that I am able to find the fun back on the court,” she repeated in tears.

“I need to retreat now and practice as much as I can. But not in Germany.”

Lisicki, who has only reached one quarterfinal this season in Kuala Lumpur, will play her next tournament in Mallorca on grass. “In order to prepare for Wimbledon, I usually went to Birmingham in the past but I wanted to play and also support the smaller tournament in Mallorca this year.”

For the next days, however, Lisicki will stay in Paris. She is still in the doubles competition of Roland Garros teaming up with Andrea Petkovic. The two Germans will take on Heather Watson and Nicole Gibbs. Maybe one step into the right direction to enjoy the time on court again.