Video: Sabine Lisicki breaks fastest-serve record

Sabine Lisicki lived up to her "Boom Boom" moniker by which many fans know her on Tuesday night. She cranked a 131 mph (211 kmh) serve that foe Ana Ivanovic bricked back out of bounds at Stanford, breaking Venus Williams's record of 129 mph. Here's the video evidence:

In the wake of her huge serve, Lisicki would fade away in the match, however, dropping it 7-6 (2), 6-1 to Ivanovic. The victor spoke with Tennis Channel's Rennae Stubbs after the match about trying to get a read on such a strong first shot: "Piece of cake. ... Just kidding. It hurt my hand."

Some had thought previously that Lisicki already wielded the record, after a bomb she rained down on Melinda Czink in the Bali tournament in November 2009. That shot, however, was not verified by the proper authorities—and Czink actually managed a fairly good return on it.

Asked for her reaction to Lisicki besting her record, Venus was ready: "I think it's time it was broken. It's a good thing. Obviously, I need to try to serve harder, but clearly she serves really hard. That's good encouragement. But I'm not out there really trying to serve hard. I used to, but now, when I really want the point, I try a medium serve somewhere above 110. I try more for placement these days. It takes a lot of energy to serve. So if you can take 10 miles off and place it, it's smarter." Williams also noted that WTA play has gotten much more competitive over the past 20 years since she made her pro debut in the Bank of the West Classic.

As for Venus herself, the now-former record holder dispatched upstart Paula Kania in the Stanford opening round (6-3, 6-2), setting up a clash against Victoria Azarenka, who received a bye and won't play her first match of the event until Thursday evening. It will be a rematch of the last outing those two had, which went shabbily when an ailing Azarenka fell to Venus rather passively, 6-2, 6-4, in Tokyo in September. Vika made no noise in that encounter, oddly enough. Here's hoping the pair turn it up come Thursday.

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