At the clay tournament in Trnava, EMPIRE Slovak Open 2015, all the Slovaks are already out of singles. This is also due to the Czech player Denisa Allertova (22), who had beaten the 18-year-old Rebecca Sramkova after the match resulting in 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. During the first duel of the day, at the centre, Tereza Smitkova has also succeeded and advanced into the quarterfinals.
Smitkova, who is No. 1 seeded in Trnava and also the major favorite for a title, managed to beat the Ukraininan Beygelzimer 6:2, 4:6, 6:1.
Smitkova did not leave with a bad luck story
The Czech player knows the local club very well, she is at the tournament for the third time.
"Some time ago, I used to play junior tournaments in EMPIRE hall. I have been at the woman clay event for the third time, before I had always used to finish in the first round and I got beaten really hard. So I managed to play a bit better for the first time," she said, smiling. Last year, she got dropped as a wild card owner after she had not managed to beat Kovinic from Monte Negro, a year before, she lost in the first round of the qualifying and was beaten by Dabrowska from Canada 3-6, 0-6. "I do not see myself as a top favorite. I think this is a great tournament. I’ll play few matches and it’s great that Trnava is not so far (from the Czech Republic). I like it here," says Smitkova who is going to fight against the Latvian Ostapenko – the player who had unexpectedly beat the sixth-seeded Wickmayer from Belgium.
Sramkova almost beat Allertova, but Allertova appreciated her opponent
The Slovak player had almost advanced into the quarter-finals of the EMPIRE Slovak Open 2015. But the win finally went to the Czech player Denisa Allertova who triumphed over our player 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. For the first time in her career, Sramkova has advanced into the second round of 100K ITF tournament. She won the three rounds of qualifying, and in the main draw, she beat the Russian Rodin. But Allertova was stronger than Sramkova. "She was physically fitter. She is an experienced player. She knew how to organize her powers. I could almost have won it. That’s a pity. But I know that I had been training properly. I should continue that way," Sramkova says.
The qualities of the talented Slovak player were also appreciated by Allert. "My opponent played very well, we had long rallies. In the first set, I made a few stupid mistakes. She was pushing me a lot, I had not expected it," says Allertova, who is going to play on Friday quarter-finals against the Serbian Krunic.
Krunic has two coaches
In the first round, Krunic beat Katerina Vankova 7-6 (6), 6-0. The only drama was the first set, when Krunic was winning 4-0, but Vankova got the tiebreak. The second set belonged to Krunic. "I was winning 4-0 and I had only lost one game. I started to think about my mistakes and I forgot to realize that Vankova played really very well. I’ll try to analyze less at the court. I know it helps," Krunic concludes coolly. And though she is Serbian, she also speaks Slovak. In the past, she was coached by the formed Slovak Fed Cup captain Mojmir Mihal.
"Today, maybe it has not been the most important match of my life, but I want to play the top tennis, I want to be in the Top 50 until the end of the year".
Krunic has two coaches now. She also cooperates with Biljana Veselinovic from Serbia who coached also Alizé Cornet. "When Alize plays at the different tournament, I am cooperating with the coach of Petra Martic. So I have two coaches so far. I hope that’s enough. I don’t need the third coach, but I might get the psychologist," Krunic smiles.