Barbora Strycova won her first singles match since returning from maternity leave, beating Maryna Zanevska 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the opening round of the Italian Open on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old Strycova returned to the tour two weeks ago at the Madrid Open after more than two years away following the birth of her son, Vincent.
After beating Zanevska, the Czech player was handed her 1-year-old son, who she told to “wave to daddy” in front of a TV camera.
In Madrid, Strycova lost her opener in the singles and reached the quarter finals in doubles with partner Hsieh Su-wei.
Strycova, who will next face ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece, is planning to retire after this year’s US Open.
Also on the red clay of the Foro Italico, Anna Blinkova rallied past Mayar Sherif 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Sherif was coming off a breakthrough run to the quarter finals in Madrid.
Nuria Parrizas Dias defeated Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The men’s tournament, headlined by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, begins on Wednesday.
Iga’s revelation
Iga Swiatek has stated that her long injury layoff in 2017 almost put an end to her career, with the Pole having had thoughts about not playing tennis anymore.
Following a strong first half in 2017, Swiatek suffered an ankle injury in June that forced her to stop playing for the next eight months.
However, the Pole stunned everyone on her return, reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 French Open juniors. It has been a steady growth for the world No. 1 on the tour ever since.
During a press conference at the Italian Open, Swiatek reflected on that miserable period for her.
“Well, at that point of my life, basically the problem was that I thought I’m not going to, like, play tennis anymore, because I was a teenager and it was a big thing already after surgery,” she said.
Swiatek also said that she was cynical about putting her time into tennis, given the injury setbacks and financial difficulties, until she started to win matches on the tour.
“It’s not like I always knew that I’m going to be a tennis player,” Swiatek continued. “Every year I needed to prove to myself that I’m going in the right direction. I didn’t believe that I’m going to be a pro until I actually came to WTA and won some matches.”
Written with inputs from Reuters
