Bouzková described the triumph in Prague as a dream come true, she will reward herself with a pancake
Update: 31/07/2022 19:01
Issued by: 31/07/2022, 19:01
Prague – Tennis player Marie Bouzková called her triumph at the Livesport Prague Open home tournament, which was the first victory at the WTA tournament in her career, a dream come true. The eighth-seeded player defeated Anastasia Potapova clearly 6:0, 6:3 in today’s singles final on the hard courts in Stromovka, Russia, ranking this success higher than the quarterfinals of this year’s Wimbledon. After the tournament, she improved her world ranking by twenty places to 46th place, and promised herself a pancake as a reward.
“I’m experiencing beautiful and surreal feelings. It’s a complete dream, what happened and succeeded,” said Bouzková at the press conference today, who broke the previous streak of three final failures at WTA tournaments.
“Compared to Wimbledon, I value both, but if I consider that I lost the finals before, I value today’s success perhaps even more. It is a moment that I will never forget, one of the two top moments in my career,” she added a twenty-four-year-old tennis player who, in her previous four appearances in Prague, did not even get past the first round or qualification. Last year, however, she won the doubles there with Lucía Hradecká.
Bouzková had the upper hand from the start in her duel with the tournament’s number seven Potapova. In the first set, she gave the three-year-younger Russian a canary and in the second set she allowed her opponent only three games. She broke seven of her eight serves. She replaced compatriot Barbora Krejčíková on the throne and became the fifth Czech winner since 2015.
“She (Potapovová) hit the balls aggressively and I thought it would be a long match. But gradually it started to deteriorate, so I didn’t want to make cheap mistakes. I let her play and waited for a chance,” said Bouzková, who won the duel . seven introductory her. “If someone had told me that I would win the first set 6-0, I would have been satisfied. Although I lost serve twice after that, I didn’t want to panic and stuck to my game,” said the Czech player.
After the match, she celebrated the triumph on the court with her younger brother, her mother was also present in the audience. “It’s unreal. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better place for my first title on the WTA circuit. The previous three finals were always difficult three-set matches, and each time I fell short. But here it was a new atmosphere for me. I played in front of spectators who they pushed me forward, and I couldn’t be happier that it was successful,” said Bouzková, adding that, unlike her tearful mother, she didn’t even faint later.
After the triumph of life, he “sins” with good food. “We have the nickname Team Strawberry with the others, so we had a sweet dessert in the shape of a strawberry after the match. Otherwise, it’s not enough for me as a reward. Today will probably be a good dinner and a pancake,” said Bouzková, who will add the winning trophy to the one from the Junior US Open. “We have a special display case at home, so it will go right in the middle. Next to the one from the US Open, which is also made of glass, it will come in handy,” added the native of Prague.
The 24-year-old Bouzková will move up to 46th place in the WTA ranking, equaling her high from August 2020. “I will practically go back to where I was some time ago. Now I appreciate it even more, because last year was not easy at all. this year’s work and I want to improve the ranking in the future,” noted Bouzková.
In the coming weeks, she will be playing other tournaments on concrete surfaces overseas, culminating in the Grand Slam US Open at the end of August. “I’m glad I entered the concrete part of the season in the best possible way, and it’s great to have so many games recorded. I’m already looking forward to the second part of the season in Canada and America.” added Bouzková.