Bouzková: Prague Open victory is a dream come true
Czech tennis player Marie Bouzková defeated Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in the finals of the Livesport Prague Open tournament on Sunday, securing the first WTA title of her career. The 24-year-old dropped just three games against the Russian player and broke her previous streak of three final failures at the WTA.
On Sunday, Marie Bouzková completed her remarkable week-long run through the Prague Open tournament, capturing her first ever WTA title in front of the cheering home crowd.
The eighth seeded Czech had the upper hand from the start of her duel against Anastasia Potapova, securing a 6-0, 6-3 victory in just 71 minutes. She dropped just three games against the Russian Potapova, breaking seven of her eight serves.
This is what she told journalists at a press conference right after her victory:
“I am glad how I handled the beginning of the match. She [Potapovova] started off very strong and I thought it was going to be a long match.
“But I jumped into it from the very beginning, while she started to make more and more mistakes. So I would say I had the first set under control and I was able to really play my game.”
Bouzková, who did not even make it past the first round or qualifying in her previous four appearances in Prague, said it was a dream to win her first title at home:
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better place to win my first WTA title. The previous three finals were always very tough three-set matches and I came up just short every time.
“This was a new atmosphere for me to play in front of a crowd that kept pushing me forward and I couldn't be happier that I did it. I am just really enjoying this moment. It is a week that I will never forget.”
Bouzková is the ninth Czech to reach the final in Prague since the event was launched in 2015 and the fifth to win on home soil, joining the ranks of Karolína Plíšková, Lucie Šafářová, Petra Kvitová and Barbora Krejčíková. She didn't lose a set in five victories and dropped just 26 games in 10 sets throughout the whole tournament.
Speaking after the match, she ranked the success higher than the quarter-finals of this year’s Wimbledon, which marked her first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament.
“Considering that I lost those three finals before so unfortunately, I appreciate today's success maybe even more. It is a moment I will never forget, one of the top two moments in my career.”
After the tournament, Bouzková moved up to 46th in the WTA rankings, equalling her best position from August 2020.
In the next few weeks, she is set to play more tournaments on hard surfaces overseas, culminating with the US Open at the end of August.
