Slovak tennis player Rebecca Šramková advanced to the 2nd round of singles at the Australian Open Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne. In the opening round, she defeated American Katie Volynetsová 3:6, 6:2, 6:2. Her next opponent will be second-seeded Pole Iga Swiateková, who beat Czech Kateřina Siniaková 6:3, 6:4.
For the first time in her career, Šramková made it to the 2nd round at one of the big four events. The start of the match against Volynets did not go well for coach Milan Martinac, she lost her serve in the second game and the American built a 3-0 lead. Although Šramková subsequently reduced it to 2:3, the end of the set belonged to Volynetsová. The second act was directed by the Slovak, who won four games in a row from the score of 2:2.
Although she lost her serve at the beginning of the third set, she immediately countered with a rebreak, in the fourth game she took Volynetas’ serve again and after confirming the break, she bounced back to 4:1. In the eighth game, she converted the second match point in a row and recorded the first victory of the new season.
“Of course, I am very happy that I managed to win. It was my goal to get past the 1st round of the main competition at a Grand Slam tournament, and I’m glad that it already happened at the Australian Open. I want to enjoy the second round,” she stated for STVR Šramkováwhich last year, thanks to the successful second half of the season, made it into the world’s top 50 for the first time. She is currently ranked 49th in the WTA rankings.
She has not yet met Swiateková in a match. In both sets of the duel with Siniaková, the Pole lost the advantage of the break, but she celebrated success in the end of the acts. “She was a tough opponent for the first round. I knew Kateřina from doubles and I knew that she would not give me anything. She played really well. It was important that I was active in the decisive stages of the meeting,” said the five-time Grand Slam champion in a post-match interview.
