First of all, I apologize for being away for a couple of days. It’s been our long Easter weekend here and the sunny weather made me forget about my laptop for a couple of days. But I did follow all the action, and while in Charleston Angelique Kerber won her fourth WTA title, in Katowice a new name joined the WTA champions club, as Anna Karolina Schmiedlova claimed the title in the city where she had won her first WTA main draw match against Alize Cornet two years ago. Interestingly, en route to the 2015 Katowice Open title Schmiedlova again faced Cornet, the defending champion and seed No.2, and ousted her in the quarterfinals 6-2 6-0.
Only 14 months ago Schmiedlova, who describes herself as shy and quiet, said how her then-newly-acquired Top 100 status gave her tougher draws and more difficult opponents in the early rounds, but apparently she has learned how to handle the situation like a boss.
In the final of the Katowice Open, the 20-year-old Slovak, whose younger sister Kristina Schmiedlova plays on the junior tennis circuit, clinched the first set after recovering from an early break of serve by winning four straight games and then again battled back from behind in the second set to beat third seed Camila Giorgi 6-4 6-3, the Italian who had upset home favorite and top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis.
The International-level title and its 280 points propelled Schmiedlova from No.67 to a new career-high ranking of No.46. Earlier this year Schmiedlova also played the final of the Rio Open, which she lost to top seed Sara Errani. (photo: Jimmie48)
It’s nice to see young rising stars stepping up on smaller tournaments. It is definitely a confidence booster for her. I know we’ll see more of her in the future. When I saw the final match, at first I thought Camila had her chances to win the title but at the end of the day, Anna Karolina had more confidence on her belt and she used that to win the tournament.
Emman Damian, it’s amazing to see how quickly she has capitalized in the WTA world. There are so many players who fail to do it for years, look at Sloane Stephens for example, she hasn’t even played a WTA final.
Emman Damian, well so so in Genie’s case. When she won her first WTA title she was already a famous player. Her one and only title came in Nurnberg last year,
I agree. Sloane has the weapons but I guess it is more of the right attitude on the court. Genie Bouchard also did the same thing as Anna Karolina, capitalizing her potentials. Karolina Pliskova too.
Genie is struggling a lot this year. Her top 10 ranking is in danger. Do you think she’ll end the season in Top 20?
Emman Damian, that could easily happen, but she won’t leave the Top 20.
I hope she gets another breakthrough this year. I know she has the talents and potential to be one of the biggest tennis superstar of her generation.