Lisicki upset by Mallory Burdette in Charleston

(Photo by Daniel Ward)

The USA Show continued in Charleston today as Mallory Burdette took out 2009 champion Sabine Lisicki, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 in the second round. The match became very tense toward the end. Burdette broke Lisicki at 4-5, then found herself at 40-0 when she served for the match. All three match points were erased by errors, including a double fault. Burdette then got another match point, but was broken.

However--obviously a bit more relaxed when switched to defense--Burdette then broke Lisicki at 15, getting the break when she changed the pace and the German player returned a soft shot into the net.

Burdette then served for the match a second time at 6-5. She went down 0-30, but then brought the score to 30-all. Lisicki then hit a forehand pass that gave her break point. On the next point, Burdette waited for a ball to bounce instead of hitting what would have been a difficult overhead. On her fifth match point, the American made another error. Burdette won the next two points, however, finishing the match by putting the ball right on the line.

(photo by Daniel Ward)

After the match, Burdette said that when she saw all those match points go by, she put her full concentration into picking a target with every subsequent shot. Her next opponent will be defending champion Serena Williams.