Tennis player Marie Bouzková entered the tournament in Lexington victoriously after a coronavirus break at the WTA circuit. She started preparations for the US Open in Kentucky by winning over the third-placed British Johanna Konta 6: 4, 6: 4.
Twenty-two-year-old Bouzková, who unsuccessfully competed for the premier title of her career in the final of the tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, at the beginning of March before the end of the season, won the first set against Konta thanks to a single break in 51 minutes.
After him, the opponent, the 15th player in the world, took a break to consult a doctor and had her pressure measured, but did not keep the break from the beginning of the second set. The Czech tennis player turned the score around and after almost two hours of play celebrated the progress.
Check out the last ball in the match:
It is her second victory over a player from the elite twenty rankings this year. She achieved the first one in Monterrey and also over Konta, which she eliminated in the semifinals. Overall, Bouzková is proud of her excellent balance against rivals from the top 20 in her career, scoring her fifth victory out of twelve encounters.
“Today I felt that I served well when needed. I was able to dictate the game after the service and I was strong at important moments,” the native of Prague praised after the match.
The forty-eight tennis player turned six of the seven breakballs against Konta. “I was looking forward to it, I felt that I had been training well in the last few months,” Bouzková said of the coronavirus pause. “On the other hand, I didn’t know much about what to expect from a fierce match, because it’s different,” she added.
The British tennis player explained her health problems after the match. “Suddenly my heart rate picked up for no apparent reason. It wasn’t after a long exchange, nor was I short of breath,” said Konta, 29.
“I’m perfectly healthy, but sometimes it happens. It took a while for it to calm down, and then I was able to focus on tennis again,” she added.
Konta experienced a phenomenon called palpitations for the fourth time. “We don’t know why it’s happening. Once it was in a stressful situation, other times in a normal situation. It’s not ideal, but maybe it won’t happen next year. It doesn’t bother me much,” she said.
In the next round of the tournament in Lexington, Bouzková will challenge the more successful player from the pair Anna Blinková (61st in the ranking) – Kristie Ahnová (96th, passed the qualification from the qualification).
Lexington Women’s Tennis Tournament (Hard Surface, $ 225,500 grant):
Singles – Round 1: Bouzková (Czech Republic) – Kontaová (3-Brit.) 6: 4, 6: 4, Linetteová (6-Pol.) – Davisová (USA) 6: 2, 6: 3, Bradyová (USA) – Watsonová (Brit.) 6 : 2, 6: 1, Sabalenko (2-White) – Brengle (USA) 6: 1, 6: 7 (5: 7), 6: 2, Jaburova (8-Tun.) – McNally (USA) 6: 2, 6: 4, Pegula (USA) – Zvonareva (RUS) 6: 1, 5: 7, 6: 4.
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