Stuttgart: Siegemund Interview
An interview with Laura Siegemund after her win in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
An interview with Laura Siegemund after her win in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Angelique Kerber takes on Carla Suárez Navarro in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
THE WINNERS
Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber won her second title of the season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, dispatching qualifier and countrywoman Laura Siegemund, the tournament’s Cinderella story, 6-4, 6-0.
“I was just trying to enjoy the atmosphere, the fans and to play here again in the finals,” Kerber said. “So, I was trying to relax a little bit but also in the same moment to be focused. It helped me yesterday, so I was trying and hoping that it will help me today as well!”
Though Siegemund finished the match with more winners (22 to 16), Kerber played her counterpunching style to perfection, hitting just nine unforced errors in 80 minutes to win the final 10 games of the match.
It was nonetheless a stellar week for the 28-year-old veteran, who will bound up nearly 30 spots to a career-high ranking of No.42; more importantly, she leapfrogs four of her compatriots to become the No.4 German woman on the WTA rankings – putting her in pole position to round out the national team who can be sent to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Read the full story and watch highlights here.
Meanwhile, unseeded Cagla Buyukakcay’s fairytale week at the TEP BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup came to a thrilling conclusion when the hometown favorite recovered from a set down to defeat No.5 seed Danka Kovinic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Set to crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career, Buyukakcay was making history with every win this week in Istanbul, becoming the first Turkish woman to reach a WTA semifinal, then a final, and against Kovinic, the first Turkish WTA titlist in history.
“It’s an incredible week for me to win the title at home, to break into the Top 100 with this tournament, to play against someone with my crowd,” she said after the match. “This is a tournament I’ve been playing since 2005, when I was 15, and I saw the best players at this tournament when I was young. So I dreamed of winning the title since then; it’s very special for me.”
Read the full story here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Angelique Kerber turns the page.
Kerber’s successful title defense at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix capped off a five-week run of play that saw her put her post Australian Open malaise behind her and re-assert herself as a force on clay. After two opening round losses after winning her maiden Slam, the German has now made the semifinals or better at her last three events. Her Stuttgart title builds her lead at No.1 on the Road to Singapore, nearly 500 points clear of No.2 Victoria Azarenka.
Kerber is the first to admit clay has never been her favorite. But that began to change last year when her titles in Charleston and Stuttgart kickstarted what has been a career-best 12 months. Kerber has yet to maintain her success in the early part of the clay season through to Paris. She has made the quarterfinals just once at the French Open and in the last two years she has won just one match combined in Madrid and Rome. So long as she’s healthy and stays aggressive from the baseline, there’s no reason Kerber can’t be a force on the red dirt.
Hear from Stuttgart champion Kerber in this week’s WTA Insider Champion’s Corner.
Set: Cagla Buyukakcay historic on home soil.
Home court advantage doesn’t always ring true in tennis. Playing at home can be paralyzing given the pressure to perform. But this week saw both singles champions win their home tournaments, with No.118 Cagla Buyukakcay becoming the first Turkish woman to win a WTA title. The 26-year-old was 0-7 at the Istanbul Cup before last week but she made good on her wildcard to snag five wins en route to the title. The win vaults her into the Top 100 for the first time at a career-high No.82.
@roberta_vinci Robyyyy???Thank you sooo much❤️❤️ trying to follow your foot steps??????Always classy!!????
— Çağla Büyükakçay (@CaglaBuyukakcay) April 24, 2016
@TimeaOfficial Timiii thank youu so much❤️❤️???? I love that team spirit??? love to your lovely team!! good luck in Rabat??????
— Çağla Büyükakçay (@CaglaBuyukakcay) April 24, 2016
Quick look at the new Road to Singapore rankings and how about that @CaglaBuyukakcay: pic.twitter.com/MziDD5uoe4
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) April 25, 2016
The best day of my life! One of my dreams came true, won WTA title at home??? pic.twitter.com/vX9EZyO3ED
— Çağla Büyükakçay (@CaglaBuyukakcay) April 24, 2016
Match: Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic stop SanTina.
The French duo is riding an eight-match win streak after winning their second consecutive title, edging out No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Garcia and Mladenovic have been flying since the tour turned to clay, winning their first title at the Volvo Car Open, winning the decisive doubles in France’s 3-2 win over the Netherlands at Fed Cup, and now beating the game’s best in Stuttgart.
As for Hingis/Mirza, the duo have not won a title since having their 41-match win streak snapped by Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina at the Qatar Total Open.
Hingis and Mirza are now in the midst of a four tournament title drought. Time to panic? Not really. The pair went five tournaments without a title last year, mostly on their worst surface of clay. They went on to win Wimbledon, the US Open, and the WTA Finals.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of April 25, 2016.
Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR), +36 (No.118 to 82): Turkey’s Buyukakcay owns this week’s biggest ranking jump after her fairytale run at the TEP BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup ended with the hometown favorite becoming her country’s first WTA titlist. She now sits at a career-high No.82.
Laura Siegemund (GER), +29 (No.71 to 42): Another Cinderella story unfolded at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, which saw Siegemund upset player after player to reach her first WTA final and vault to a career-high No.42.
Danka Kovinic (MNE), +13 (No.60 to 47): Kovinic also posts a career-high ranking this week after reaching her second WTA final at Istanbul.
Petra Kvitova (CZE), +1 (No.7 to 6): Kvitova’s run to the Stuttgart semifinals causes the only Top 10 shuffle of the week, leapfrogging Simona Halep to reach the No.6 spot.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
Rabat, Morocco
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, April 25 – Saturday, April 30, 2016
J&T Banka Prague Open
Prague, Czech Republic
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, April 25 – Saturday, April 30, 2016
Mutua Madrid Open
Madrid, Spain
Premier Mandatory | €4,771,360 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, April 30 – Saturday, May 7, 2016
Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Rome, Italy
Premier | – | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, 2016
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Madrid, Rome
2. Agnieszka Radwanska – Madrid
3. Angelique Kerber – Madrid, Rome
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Madrid, Rome
5. Victoria Azarenka – Madrid, Rome
6. Petra Kvitova – Madrid, Rome
7. Simona Halep – Madrid, Rome
8. Roberta Vinci – Prague, Madrid, Rome
9. Maria Sharapova
10. Belinda Bencic – Madrid, Rome
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Madrid, Rome
12. Flavia Pennetta
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Prague, Madrid, Rome
14. Venus Williams – Madrid, Rome
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Rabat, Madrid, Rome
16. Lucie Safarova – Prague, Madrid, Rome
17. Elina Svitolina – Madrid, Rome
18. Karolina Pliskova – Prague, Madrid, Rome
19. Ana Ivanovic – Madrid, Rome
20. Sara Errani – Madrid, Rome
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Jarmila Wolfe (AUS) – April 26, 2016
Misaki Doi (JPN) – April 29, 2016
Sara Errani (ITA) – April 29, 2016
Shahar Peer (ISR) – May 1, 2016
Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic left Stuttgart with more silverware and a burgeoning reputation as one of the teams to beat on tour.
Angelique Kerber’s glorious homecoming in Stuttgart provided an emphatic answer to any lingering questions over her ability to wear the mantle of Grand Slam champion.
And strong showings on the clay over the coming weeks, at two of the calendar’s most prestigious stop offs, will further underline her status among the game’s elite, not to mention her championship credentials for the campaign’s second major, Roland Garros.
On the face of it, Kerber’s counterpunching game is ideally suited to clay, but surprisingly it was not until last April that she first lifted a WTA title on the surface. This triumph in Charleston was swiftly followed by another in Stuttgart, and her defense of this title rightly pushes her to the forefront of the contenders for the other major honors.
Up first is the Premier Mandatory Mutua Madrid Open. Staged at the Caja Mágica, the event’s recent honor roll is a Who’s Who of the game’s elite, with Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova leading the way.
Yet it is another name that arguably starts as favorite. While Kerber sits pretty atop the Road To Singapore leaderboard, Victoria Azarenka can lay claim to being the season’s most consistent performer.
The Belarusian, a WTA Finales ever-present between 2009 and 2013, looks well set to secure her return after a trophy-laden couple of months. Titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami have sent Azarenka shooting up the leaderboard, trailing Kerber now by fewer than 500 points.
With 1,000 up for grabs in Madrid, and a further 900 at the following week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia, in Rome, there is ample opportunity for the early pacesetters to forge further ahead or get sucked back into the pack.
Among those eager to reel them in is Agnieszka Radwanska. By her own admission the Pole has never taken to clay, although a semifinal run in Stuttgart suggests that her fortunes on the surface may be about to change.
One player who is no stranger to success at this time of year is reigning Roland Garros champion Serena Williams. By her own very high standards, it has been a slightly disappointing start to the year for WIlliams, and her bid for silverware in the Spanish and Italian capitals is sure to be one of the more captivating storylines.
Click here to see the full Road To Singapore leaderboard standings heading into Madrid.
On the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises see Sloane Stephens’ rendered speechless at a bumper prize ceremony following her recent Volvo Car Open victory.
Carla Suárez Navarro among the game’s most elegant players, but recently she has proven there is substance to go with this style. CNN Open Court caught up with the Spaniard ahead of her home event.
MADRID, Spain – When Louisa Chirico’s plane landed in Madrid on Thursday, she and a slew of fellow players on her flight fired up their phones and waited for their roaming cell phone data plans to kick in. Just a few hours earlier Chirico hopped on a plane in Prague, where she lost in qualifying at the J&T Banka Prague Open a few days earlier, and flew to Madrid hoping that by the time she landed she would hear she whether she had actually got into the Mutua Madrid Open.
“I wasn’t originally inside the cut,” Chirico told WTA Insider. “We found out the day before I came here. I was entered in another tournament just in case and then switched our flight. I was three out of qualifying and then I moved in at the last minute. So very happy and lucky but trying to do my best to use the opportunity.”
Chirico was originally entered in another ITF tournament for this week, but as more withdrawals came in Madrid she soon saw herself very close to making the cut. After losing in the final round of qualifying in Prague, she and coach stayed there to practice and wait until it was time to head to their next tournament.
“I wasn’t planning on playing a match until Monday at the other tournament and then found out we might be in here and I had to play the next day on Friday,” Chirico said. “Obviously I want to play here, it’s the biggest tournament right now. That wasn’t a question. But the travel and everything, planning the weeks ahead can be difficult. Everyone has to go through it. You just have to make the adjustments and make the best of it.”
Chirico did make the best of it. Ranked No.133, the 19-year-old American beat Irina Falconi and Mariana Duque-Mariño without losing a set to qualify for her first Premier Mandatory event. Her successful qualifying campaign in Madrid continues what has been a strong run of form for the New York native.
Since the tour has turned to clay she made good on a wildcard into the Volvo Car Open to make the Round of 16, beating Lucie Safarova and Naomi Osaka en route. Then came a strong qualifying run in Stuttgart, where she qualified for the main draw with wins over Barbora Krejcikova, Daniela Hantuchova, and Camila Giorgi – again, without losing a set. Last year she won the USTA French Open wildcard play-off to earn her first Grand Slam main draw appearance.
Chirico’s comfort on clay stems from growing up playing on green clay. It’s not often you hear an American player say they wished the clay season was longer.
“Extending the clay season as much as possible? I’m all about it.”
“For me it’s always been natural to move [on clay] because I grew up playing most of the summers on green clay,” Chirico said. “So it didn’t even come into my mind until I came out here and noticed people didn’t really like playing on clay. I guess that gives me an advantage going in. I think it suits my game pretty well. Hopefully I can stay on the clay as long as possible, play as many matches on it as possible.
Get to know the 19-year-old from Westchester, New York. Just don’t call her Lil Weezy.
Q: So let’s back up. How did you first start playing tennis?
A: Actually I played a lot of sports when I was younger. I played soccer pretty seriously, I played basketball, a little bit of figure skating, and ice hockey. I was all over the place. I always loved playing sports. I was always running around and staying active.
My mom enrolled me in a clinic one day and from that moment I just loved it and decided to keep playing. I ended up choosing between tennis and soccer. Those were the two sports that I was most serious about.
Q: What position did you play in soccer?
A: Sweeper. Middle defender. I decided around 12 or 13 that I only wanted to play tennis. And the rest of it is history. I loved it right away.
Q: Speaking of those two sports, soccer is obviously a team sport and tennis is completely individual. Why choose tennis over being with a team?
A: I think the cool thing about tennis is that it is individual so it’s you out there. It’s solving the puzzle by yourself. Obviously you have your coach and your team at the side of the court but when you’re out there they can’t help you. It’s a battle against another persona and you’re countering their moves as well. You never know what is going to happen so it’s like boxing. I think that’s a really cool aspect and I enjoy that.
hello again red clay ? #favoriteseason pic.twitter.com/m9aPJYLEhv
— Louisa Chirico (@Louisa_Chirico) April 16, 2016
Q: So you chose tennis over soccer. At one point did you think you could actually play tennis for a living?
A: It was once I started playing some of the bigger events in juniors, going against the best juniors around my age at the ITFs or junior Slams. That’s when I realized maybe I can do this as a career and really pursue it. I really wanted to but I had to gauge where I was. I was in regular school so I was only playing in the US or locally so I had no idea. There are so many players in other countries.
So once I started playing at the highest level and I had some success in the lower level Futures and stuff, that opened my eyes a little bit and I thought I could do this as a career.
Q: You’re 19-years-old, traveling the world playing sports for a living. Your friends are probably all in college. When you talk to them, what’s the biggest misconception they have about your life?
A: Geez, I don’t know. I think the funniest thing I get is “So what do you do for food?” I’m like, well…I still eat regular food [laughs]. I guess with the diet and the sleeping everyone thinks we’re robots and on a schedule. Obviously we have to be professional and on a schedule. It’s funny to hear those questions.
All my friends are interested and they’re like have you played Serena or Sharapova yet? They don’t really get the tiers of the tour. So when I tell them I’m playing qualifying for a tournament they’re like, “So you’re playing a tournament to get into another tournament?”
But they’re all really supportive and I’m really lucky to have friends that are that supportive of me. I think it’s really important to have friends outside of tennis so you’re not always consumed with it. Sometimes you just need to relax and get a break. It’s nice to not talk about tennis 24/7. Because when we’re out here I do enjoy talking tennis. I think we all do. It’s what we do. We love it. But it’s nice to have a couple friends who don’t know anything about the game.
Q: So what do you do to get your mind off tennis?
A: I like to read. I like to sketch and draw a little bit. It’s the artistic outlet, I guess. I love music. You’ll always see me with my headphones in. I like to hang out with my friends. I like to keep it social.
Q: So what are you listening to these days? What’s on repeat?
A: I’m pretty into house music so I was really excited coming to Europe. I always leave Europe and I have a whole new playlist! Currently on repeat is the new Calvin Harris song that came out with Rihanna. It’s really good. I recommend you listen to it.
“Is it snow?” @goofa01 pic.twitter.com/5rTtvFR2BF
— Louisa Chirico (@Louisa_Chirico) April 30, 2016
Q: Alright, I’m going to fire off some quick-hit questions now.
A: Oh boy.
Q: Would you rather have a night out or an evening in?
A: Evening in.
Q: Extroverted or introverted?
A: Extroverted.
Q: TV or book?
A: TV.
Q: TV or movie?
A: Movie.
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
A: I saw Concussion in the theater. It was really good. Interesting story.
Q: Twitter or Instagram?
A: Instagram.
How I feel when I see that @LamorneMorris followed me back!? ? #lifemade #winniethebish @NewGirlonFOX pic.twitter.com/3VgbxWrUsj
— Louisa Chirico (@Louisa_Chirico) February 26, 2016
Q: Would you rather swim in a pool or the ocean?
A: Ocean.
Q: Name three things you would take to a desert island?
A: My phone, a book, and a friend.
Q: If money were no object, what would you do all day?
A: Play tennis.
Q: Did you always want to be a professional tennis player?
A: When I was younger and I played soccer I wanted to be Mia Hamm.
Q: Do you have any nicknames?
A: Lou. My trainer calls me Lil Weezy. He’s the only person who can do that. I wouldn’t really respond to anyone else yelling that.
Q: I have this theory that everyone has an X-Men power. Something you naturally do better than anyone else that is your gift as well as your curse. What’s yours?
A: I always have energy. I don’t drink coffee, I don’t need caffeine. I always have energy and for what we do that’s an advantage. So…Energizer Bunny over here.
Q: What’s your favorite family tradition?
A: Christmas every year. I have a pretty big family. My dad’s side of the family all lives in New York. My mom’s side lives half in Korea and half in California. But my dad’s side is in New York and we all get together every Christmas. It’s the one time of the year everyone is together. It’s really nice. We go around the table and talk about what we’re thankful for. It keeps you grounded. It’s really special to me.
Q: Do you still sit at the kids table?
A: I am now old enough that I no longer have to sit at the kids table.
Sizzling forehand from @Louisa_Chirico #tennisgifs #VCO2016 pic.twitter.com/ctKob1hwRb
— Tennis Captions (@tenniscaptions) April 8, 2016
Q: How many languages do you speak?
A: Fluently? English. I took a little bit of Spanish. I took 3 years of Mandarin in school but I wouldn’t say I’m fluent.
Q: So you’re not Christina McHale (McHale speaks Mandarin)?
A: No, I’m not Christina. I didn’t go to Asia last year but this year hoping to so I’ll brush up on my Chinese.
Q: Do you speak Korean?
A: No, actually. Just hello and stuff.
Q: Do you have a Starbucks name?
A: I’ve given Rihanna. Because I just love her.
Q: She’s your girl?
A: She’s my girl.
Q: If you could have coffee with anyone in the world, who would it be?
A: Ellen Degeneres. I think she’s hilarious and I would love to be on her show.
Q: Well if you make a deep run at the US Open…
A: Exactly. That’s the goal, right? But I’ll settle for coffee with her.
Follow Louisa on Twitter @Louisa_Chirico!
MADRID, Spain – No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza closed out a decisive 6-2, 7-5 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, winning her first round match at the Mutua Madrid Open in just over 90 minutes on Court Manolo Santana.
Watch live action from Madrid this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“Of course I was a little bit nervous and tense because the first matches are always complicated,” Muguruza told press after the match.
:In Madrid we have this extra pressure because I’m here at home. Perhaps you’re a little bit more nervous because of that. But my first feeling is that I’m satisfied for winning the match, fighting, as I fought a lot.”
Coming off of another successful Fed Cup outing and a run to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Muguruza is quite comfortable on clay – despite her breakout Wimbledon fortnight less than a year ago – and used that experience to take the ascendency on Schmiedlova, who has only won one WTA main draw match thus far in 2016.
Hitting 22 winners to the Slovak’s five, Muguruza closed off more than her fair share of points at the net, venturing forward 12 times and converting eight of those advances. Schmiedlova, by contrast, hit 28 unforced errors and seven double faults, though she pushed the former World No.3 to play her best tennis in the second set.
Still in her first full season as a top ranked player, the Spanish youngster admitted she is still navigating the waters of the big leagues, but feels she is acquitting herself well.
“I think it’s difficult. It’s something that requires you to play very well, not only tennistically talking, but in everything you do. You have to put everything in.
“I’m very happy to be up there and very fortunate to be there. I’m discovering how to handle it the best possible way. To feel more confident, comfortable.
“Right now I’m feeling well.”
Up next for the two-time French Open quarterfinalist is Irina-Camelia Begu, who outlasted Eugenie Bouchard, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 late on Sunday evening.
“Every time I go out there and play a game I’m very competitive and I want to win. It doesn’t matter if I defend points or not.”
Around the grounds, Daria Kasatkina fought valiantly through injury concerns and an inspired opponent in qualifier Patricia Maria Tig, but ultimately fell to the Romanian, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Sabine Lisicki made short work of another qualifier, Monica Puig, as the German emerged in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. On the bubble to qualify for the Rio Olympics, Lisicki saw herself get bumped from her country’s Top 4 when Laura Siegemund reached the final of Stuttgart two weeks ago, and will need to put together some solid results of her own to reassert her presence on the national team. Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova set up a second round encounter with Camila Giorgi when she defeated Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 6-1 – Tsurenko herself was playing with a heavily strapped right thigh.
American qualifier Louisa Chirico turned heads with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Monica Niculescu; the Romanian veteran had pushed Petra Kvitova to the brink in Stuttgart, but Chirico had all the answers in the one hour, 35 minute match. Winning 70% of her first serve points and breaking serve six times, the 19-year-old New York native could next play 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in the second round. Get to know the young American in a new interview from WTA Insider.
Volvo Car Open finalist and qualifier Elena Vesnina began her red clay campaign with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Jelena Ostapenko, who was hoping to build on her run to the semifinals of the Katowice Open after a runner-up finish in Doha. Vesnina will next play defending champion Kvitova, who eased past Lara Arruabarrena, 6-3, 6-2, in just over an hour. A two-time winner in Madrid, Kvitova reached the semifinals of Stuttgart continued looking comfortable on clay on Sunday, striking 29 winners to 27 unforced errors against the Spaniard, who pushed Angelique Kerber to a third set tie-break a few weeks ago in Charleston.
A drop shot to end the first set! ?
Defending #MMOpen champion @Petra_Kvitova takes the opening set 6-3! https://t.co/OJTu24Fpa6
— WTA (@WTA) May 1, 2016
Lucie Safarova went from famine to feast thanks to some much needed home cooking. The Czech veteran went into the J&T Banka Prague Open without a match win under her belt in 2016, going 0-5 after a delayed start to the season due to complications from a bacterial infection that derailed her career-best season last fall.
But it just takes one week to turn your season around in tennis, and Safarova earned her first win of the year over Mariana Duque-Mariño. With each match her level improved and she saved her best for last, rallying from a set down to beat Samantha Stosur, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to win her first title since the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last spring.
After a rush to the airport to get to Madrid on Saturday night, Safarova went on to beat CoCo Vandeweghe in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open. It adds up to a much-needed boost of confidence for Safarova, who is hoping to round into form before the French Open, where she the finalist last year.
WTA Insider spoke to Lucie on Saturday after her feel-good week at home playing in front of family and friends.
WTA Insider: Congratulations on an incredible and, I have to believe, a relieving run for you to the title in Prague. How are you feeling right now?
Safarova: I feel amazing. It’s really so nice to win a title at home, in front of the home crowd. The attendance was amazing. They pushed me forward and after being such a long time away with the sickness, it’s a really nice feeling to play such great tennis again. I’m feeling strong.
WTA Insider: When you arrived in Prague, you hadn’t yet won a match this year, and obviously your health concerns played a big part in that. How worried were you about your form when you arrived?
Safarova: Actually, I felt better and better each week. In Stuttgart, we had a really tough match with Kaja [Pliskova], with really close points. My performance was really good again and I felt like my old self.
When I arrived in Prague, I was just positive that sooner or later, it has to come. It’s incredible that after winning the first match, my performance was better each match and then in the final, I played great tennis.
WTA Insider: At what point this season were you able to feel like you were able to practice 100% without being too concerned with fitness issues?
Safarova: I started to practice two weeks before the tournament in Doha. I was doing two days practice, one day recovery. It’s not easy to say which day I managed to play 100%, but even in spaces I got some good practices in. As I say, it just takes time for the body to gain back the fitness.
WTA Insider: Were you able to stay positive throughout that time? Obviously the losses had to be frustrating at times, and I would think it would be difficult to stay positive the whole time.
Safarova: It wasn’t easy, definitely, but I could still see that I was able to last longer in each match I was playing, and the overall performance was better. So, I was trying to be patient and keep a positive approach, which only led to this amazing event.
WTA Insider: Am I right that your coach Rob Steckley is not with you in Prague?
Safarova: He had some health issues and had to go back home. I don’t know how long he’s going to be away, but he’s definitely not coming to Madrid and Rome.
WTA Insider: Have you been in contact this week?
Safarova: We’ve been in contact a little bit.
WTA Insider: Did you have somebody there serving as a coach?
Safarova: I had plenty of people around me, obviously. It’s my home town, and home country for me, so there was plenty of people – family and friends – so I was never alone, definitely!
WTA Insider: We saw the photos and videos in Prague. The stands were full, very lively. You’ve played in Grand Slam finals and other big tournaments. What was it like playing it Prague?
Safarova: It was amazing. It was really cold the first few days, but the people still came to support. It was sold out every day in the club. The atmosphere was just incredible, so it’s really nice how many people love tennis in the Czech Republic, and how they are coming to support us. I really appreciate it. I have such great fans.
WTA Insider: Looking at this past week and the matches you were able to rack up, was there a certain match where you were able to think you were back and all of the struggles were behind you? Was there a singular moment where you felt that way this week?
Safarova: With each match I played, I gained some confidence, and my tennis was better and better. But definitely after the semifinals and finals today, I definitely felt my level was back.
WTA Insider: You have a pretty good record against Sam. Did that factor into your ability to turn today’s match around?
Safarova: I don’t know if I would say so because Sam on clay is playing really well, and she was pressuring me from the beginning. The whole first set I was more defensive; then finally, I was able to turn it around. I really pushed myself to the limit to win that match.
WTA Insider: How did you feel you recovered from match to match?
Safarova: Of course, I’m very exhausted because I had long matches here throughout the week, but so far no injuries and recovering pretty ok. I think that’s the best news after this week, that my health is holding on.
WTA Insider: You’ve won the title in Prague, you’ve got some matches under your belt. You’re on clay, which you obviously love. The French Open is pretty close and a place where you’ve had good results; how do you feel this tournament win sets you up for the rest of the clay court season?
Safarova: I see this as a great start for me. Now I see I’m back; my level is back. I’m just going to keep working, keep building up on my game. Obviously there are two big tournaments ahead in Madrid and Rome, and then I have a week off before Paris. Of course, I will try to peak in Paris, but I would love to continue my streak in the other two tournaments coming up.
All photos courtesy of J&T Banka Prague Open.