First promotion for Czech tennis! Strýcová and Martincová start their participation at Wimbledon

The first Czech tennis players have already entered the action at this year’s Wimbledon. Barbora Strýcová took on Belgian Zanevská and Tereza Martincová faced Argentinian Podoroská. How did the Czechs’ matches go?

Barbora Strýcová

Wimbledon is one of the reasons why Strýcová is still back on the WTA circuit after her maternity break. Belgian Zanevska, her opening opponent, definitely did not arrive in an optimal mood. She has won only two of her last eight matches and one of her defeats came in her match against Barbora Strycova.

On the other hand, even the experienced Czech has not won much since her return to the courts. Apart from the aforementioned match with her opponent, she entered today’s match with a negative record of 1:5. Nevertheless, the semifinalist of the 2019 Grand Slam here entered the match as a slight favourite.

The Czech took the first set very quickly, winning it 6:1 in 25 minutes. The next set was evenly matched at the beginning, but in the sixth game Strýcová lost her serve and was soon down 2:5. However, she didn’t lower her weapons and showed a great reversal, winning five games in a row and celebrating her progress to the second round.

Tereza Martincova

The Prague native has only made it past the first round at the All England Club once before. Against Argentina’s Podoroska, she entered court four as the favourite. Partly thanks to the fact that two years ago, she won a duel against her opponent here.

The Czech was down 0:2 early, but then improved her serve and took the first set. She won it 6:3 and must have been pleased with her first service success rate, which was close to 80 percent.

The second set was even more of a serving affair for both tennis players. Both of them kept their serve throughout the second set and logically the tiebreak had to be decided. It went in favour of the Argentine from the start and the match headed to a deciding set.

Martincova entered it by losing her serve, which Podoroska fortunately erased with the same action. However, the Argentine dictated the pace of the game more often than not and with a break in the fifth game she again took the match.

The Czech player was no longer in optimal psychological well-being at these moments, but a well-earned win of her own serve at 3:4 still kept her in touch with her opponent. However, she could not take Podoroska’s serve anymore. Unlike Strýcová, Martincová is out of the All England Club.

Source: Wimbledon, WTA