New champions crowned at Calgary’s National Bank Challenger
Posted Nov 13, 2023 10:25 am.
New tennis champions have been crowned at the Calgary National Bank Challenger.
Three years ago, women’s singles champ Sabine Lisicki was told she would never play professional tennis ever again after suffering a debilitating knee injury.
“It was hard, it was brutal. I could not lift my leg for over a month, I was on crutches for two months,” the German tennis player told CityNews. “I had 66 Heparin shots I have to give myself.
“I broke all the ligaments in my left knee,” Lisicki explained. “I was never meant to be here and playing professional tennis.”
But that didn’t stop her.
The 34 year-old — who is no stranger to competing at Grand Slam tournaments — kept going, determined to return to the court.
“It was clear I would come back,” Lisicki said. “I did not want to finish my career on that note.
“Ninety-nine percent of people didn’t believe in me, but you have to find that one per cent, that one reason that it can work.”
On Sunday, Lisicki beat out Vancouver’s Stacey Fung to take the top spot.
The journey hasn’t been easy for men’s singles champ Liam Draxl either.
The 21-year-old Canadian faced struggles after finishing college tennis and going pro earlier this year.
“It’s a grind and it can really tax you physically and mentally,” he said. “Honestly, starting on my career in the summer, I was second-guessing myself, doubting a little bit.”
But now, a bright light to the dark times, giving a whole new meaning to what it means to be a champion.
“I had the crowd support on my side and I was just going to bring it and I just trusted everything out there,” Draxl said.
He won the title in Calgary after beating last year’s winner — Dominick Koepfer of Germany — in two straight sets.
The win for the young player came the same day history was made in Canadian tennis, with Team Canada taking home its first Billie Jean Cup.
“We all know maybe 20 years ago or so it was a little dead and now, people break onto the scene,” Draxl said. “Milos (Raonic), Dennis (Shapovalov), Felix (Auger Aliassime), Vasek (Pospisil), and Bianca (Andreescu) on the women’s side, Leylah (Fernandez), all these players, they’ve been doing so amazing and I think it’s really getting the sport involved in Canada and these Canadians are really passionate behind the spot of tennis now.
“Maybe it’s causing little kids to pick up a tennis racket instead of a hockey stick.”
