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Nao Hibino took out former Wimbledon Finalist Sabine Lisicki in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to move into the second round of the Mumbai Open. Speaking about the match, Hibino said, "I knew she was going to play aggressively.
I had watched a lot of videos of her, and I had that in my mind. So in the first set, I played a little too defensively. But in the second and third sets, I got used to how she plays. I tried to be more aggressive from the second set.
I think it worked." The pair had met earlier in Chinese Taipei where Lisicki battered her opponent. "When I played her in Chinese Taipei earlier this year, I had a few chances to actually win the match. But I didn't go for it.
I wasn't aggressive enough. But today, each time I got a chance, I went for the kill." She further analysed the match, "She serves like a guy. So I positioned myself really behind the baseline, to counter her kick-serve.” "And then, when I was serving, I realised that she was attacking my second serve really well.
So I started to make my second serves with the same speed as my first. I realised that if I served slower on the second serve, she would hit unreturnable winners and get the point anyway. So I was serving with the same pace risking a double fault.
The tactic was to be more aggressive second serve. And it worked. "I also worked on my footwork. I tried to hit every ball as deep as possible," ALSO READ Roger Federer: 'I don't know why I get broken in every match'