Bouzková: Prague Open victory is a dream come true – Disappointment for Anastasia Potapova
Prague Open victory is a dream come true: Czech tennis player Marie Bouzková got her victory over Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in the finals of the Livesport Prague Open. The tournament took place on Sunday. Marie managed to secure the first WTA title of her career. She dropped just three games against Anastasia. She broke her previous streak of three final failures at the WTA.
Bouzkova captured the first Hologic WTA Tour singles title with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
The eighth-seeded Czech had an upper hand from the start against Anastasia Potapova. She managed to secure a 6-0, 6-3 victory in just 71 minutes.
She is the ninth Czech to reach the final in Prague since the event began in 2015. Bouzkova is the fifth to win on home soil after Lucie Safarova, Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, and Barbora Krejcikova.
Bouzkova bagged the fifth first-time singles champion alongside Potapova, Beatriz Haddad Maia (Nottingham), Martina Trevisan (Rabat), and Bernarda Pera (Budapest).
She interacted with journalists after her victory:
“I am glad how I handled the beginning of the match. She 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.”
“It is a dream for me to win my first title here at home,” a beaming Bouzkova enlightened in her victory speech. “I just could not be happier. It is a dream come true, and I enjoyed playing in front of the home crowd so much.”
Bouzková did not make it past the first rounds in her last appearances. She did not qualify in her previous four appearances in Prague.
“I could not 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 could not be happier that I did it. I am just really enjoying this moment. It is a week that I will never forget.”
Bouzkova was a runner-up in three other Hologic WTA Tour singles finals in her career. This included her performance in Guadalajara, Mexico where she lost to Sloane Stephens. All those finals extended to three sets. But there was no threat of that for Bouzkova in her fourth. She emerged victorious in the first seven games.
“I was expecting a really tough match, which it was. I handled the beginning very well. She started off very strong, and I thought it was going to be a long match. But I was able to take a lot of chances, have this lead, and close it out,” Bouzkova said.
“The fan support was unreal, ever since the first match. It was really special for me to experience this. I am so happy that it led to the title. I definitely could not have done it without the fans here.”
The first contest set the tone. Potapova led 40-15 on serve, but it was eventually broken. She hoped to bid for her second title of the year. She triumphed in Istanbul in April. But Potapova made 44 unforced errors in 15 games.
Bouzkova played her first event since reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. She was defeated by eventual runner-up Ons Jabeur. She entered the tournament with the rank of No. 66. But Bouzkova climbed up the ranking stairs to be in the Top 50 on 1 August 2022.
Potapova finished as runner-up in singles. But she bounced back with Yana Sizikova to get a win in the doubles title. The No. 4 seeds defeated Angelina Gabueva and Anastasia Zakharova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
It is this pair’s second title together. Before this, they triumphed at the Ladies Open Lausanne in 2019.
After the tournament, Bouzková climbed up to 46th position in the WTA rankings. This displayed her best position from August 2020.
“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.”
In the next few weeks, Bouzková will play more tournaments on hard surfaces overseas. She will play to the best of her abilities in the US Open at the end of August.