In Prague, Bouzková does not notice the failures of the deployed, she concentrates on Nosková
Update: 29/07/2022 18:06
Issued by: 29/07/2022, 18:06
Prague – Tennis player Marie Bouzková remains one of the last two seeded players at the Livesport Prague Open tournament after the fall of the favorite, but she does not perceive the role of a possible co-favorite. The quarter-finalist of this year’s Wimbledon advanced to the six after winning over Russia’s Oksana Selechmeteva 6:3, 6:0, and she will challenge compatriot Linda Nosková in her fourth WTA tournament final in her career on Saturday. Bouzková, a native of Prague, respects her and expects a very high-quality match.
“Linda is a super player and another young Czech. I am therefore expecting a tough match,” said Bouzková at the press conference, who sparred with last year’s junior Roland Garros winner before the tournament. “From what we trained for one day, I know that he plays quite aggressively. But it was still just training. We looked around a bit and I will definitely prepare for it. Today I will switch it off for a while and tomorrow we will somehow prepare tactics,” added Bouzková .
The twenty-four-year-old tennis player fought for participation among the four best players against Selechmetěvová in one hour and twenty-five minutes. In the first set, he won the opponent’s serve four times, in the second, even a short rain shower did not stop her at 4:0 and 30:30. She gave Russia the canary. “Such scores tend to be tricky. It was certainly not that clear-cut. Several games were even and it could have gone either way. I’m glad that except for the rain shower, the match went by quite quickly,” said Bouzková.
After today’s failure of the Estonian Anett Kontaveitová or yesterday’s losses of Barbora Krejčíková and Alizá Cornetová, Bouzková, together with the Russian Anastasia Potapova, is the last seeded player in the competition. The role of the tournament eight belongs to the Czech Republic, Potapova is a rung higher. But Bouzková does not overestimate this position. “The only thing I’m thinking about is that I’m playing against Linda tomorrow. Tomorrow Linda and then we’ll see each other,” Bouzková said with a smile.
A duel against a fresh member of the elite hundred of the WTA ranking Nose perception Bouzková more prestigious and in terms of games. “People will cheer for both sides this time and not like before, when they mainly cheered for me or her. I have already played with the Czechs many times in my career and preparing for them is the same. Although we know each other and train together more, but for the preparation and starting nothing changes before the match,” she said.
He takes the wild Nosková, who is experiencing the tournament of her life so far, very seriously. “She is a very good player. She is playing so well at such a young age. I will approach the match as if I was playing against anyone else. It is a semi, so it is a big match. I have to go from the first ball,” declared the 66th player in the world.
Bouzková will want to use the form she carried over from the Wimbledon quarterfinals. “I now have a lot of recorded matches and I can draw from that. And try to follow up on the previous matches, build on them, and I hope I can do it tomorrow as well,” said Bouzková.
He will try to rest before Saturday’s duel. “What will relaxation look like? Honestly, it will be on the couch. There will be no big events today. At most, a good dinner,” added Bouzková.