Were it not for his poor health, he would be one of the ten best tennis players in the world, and most tennis experts have approved of him over the past few years. After another six month break, Markéta Vondroušová flew onto the WTA circuit like a whirlwind, and her performance in Adelaide impressed her so much that she earned the label “dark horse” at the Australian Open.
Twenty-three-year-old Vondroušová enters the season in an unusual position, her name currently appearing at 92nd.
But Sokolov’s native showed right at the beginning of the new year that the position at the back end of the elite hundred rating does not correspond to its qualities and potential.
The gold left-handed owner, who was sidelined for half a year last year with a wrist problem and subsequent surgery, presented himself in Adelaide with a signature colorful all-court tennis game adorned with his trademark dropshot.
In the opening round, Vondroušová defeated world number 19, Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, when she came back after a dismal first set and turned the tide.
He then made full use of the confidence he gained in the last 16. In it, she destroyed a dangerous early-hitter and longtime fear of favorite, Estonian Kaia Kanepiova, that is, the woman who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open a year ago and pushed Polish superstar Iga Šwiateková over the cliff. elimination.
On Wednesday, Vondroušová broke the world ranking of 32nd with scores of 6:0, 6:4.
Especially in the first set, the Czech played flawlessly. And literally. In it, he recorded eleven winning streaks and no unforced errors. The set lasted only 22 minutes.
In the second round, the experienced Estonian contained the disaster, but in the end Vondroušová recorded 23 winners and only five unforced errors, four of which were double faults. He allowed his opponent to go to one break point for the entire duel, which he avoided, and his dizzying performance captivated the tennis world.
“He is back and better than ever,” wrote the official WTA account.
“Markéta Vondroušová. How good she is in those few weeks of the year when she’s not injured,” added tennis journalist José Morgado in awe.
She was proven right by the Tennis Abstract project, according to which statistics Vondroušová was among the top fifteen female tennis players last year, if she was healthy. “He’s back, he looks fit, he’s going to be very dangerous,” said Vondroušová, another journalist, Chris Goldsmith.
“Oh my God, Markéta Vondroušová might not be human,” said Breakpoint podcast co-author Chase Breedlove after one memorable winning streak.
The 2019 French Open and 2021 Tokyo Olympics finalist has had spectacular performances on occasion, but she has been repeatedly hampered by fluctuations in her performance mainly due to health issues.
How he will do it this year will surely be one of the main topics of Czech tennis.
Vondroušová now faces another challenge in Adelaide, a quarter-final against world number five Aryna Sabalenková. Belarus eliminated the Czech in three sets in the third round of last year’s Australian Open.
“I just saw her match against Kanepiova and I sighed: Wow, it’s going to be very difficult,” Sabalenkova admitted respectfully.
“He is a very unpredictable opponent, he has a great feeling on the court, has a very good hitting record and plays superbly,” the Belarusian added to Vondroušová.
“Certified bacon geek. Evil social media fanatic. Music practitioner. Communicator.”
