Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky had never made a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final before, but she performed brilliantly to thwart the Bali ambitions of Sabine Lisicki by beating the rising German star 6-2 7-5 to win the BGL Luxembourg Open.
Bacsinszky's best career results on the Tour before this week were four semi-finals, two last year and two earlier this year. So, unseeded and going into her semi-final match against the in-form Yanina Wickmayer, who had just come off a victory in Linz to add to her earlier title in Estoril, things didn't look promising for her. But she fought hard to end the number five seed's eight-match winning streak with a tense 3-6 6-2 7-5 victory. That result ended Wickmayer’s chance of trying for the $1,000,000 bonus available at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions to any player that could win three International series events and the year-ending Championships.
Lisicki, the number six seed, was just as daunting on paper, with some phenomenal results this year at big events which included winning Charleston and reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. In the semi-finals, Lisicki also played a part in denying a player the opportunity to win the $1,000,000, preventing Shahar Peer from reaching the final and perhaps going on to claim her third International Series win of the year.
In the end, it was Bacsinszky who came out firing in the final, winning the first four games in a row and staying on serve from there to take the first set. The second set stayed on serve until 4-4 when Bacsinszky broke again for 5-4 and a chance to serve for the title. Lisicki broke back but was again broken herself, and this time the Swiss served it out.
So - who will be competing between November 4th and 8th at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions? Come back here on Tuesday for a list of the 10 qualifiers and two wildcards who will battle for the $600,000 on offer.
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