Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova’s Brisbane International is proving memorable for all the right reasons after claiming the biggest win of her career to bundle out Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur in the first round on New Year’s Eve.
In a match that started in 2018 and finished into the new year, the 20-year-old won her fourth match in a row, fighting back to post a 4-6 6-2 6-2 triumph on Pat Rafter Arena.
“I really enjoyed this match and Happy New Year,” she laughed.
“Actually I was very nervous at the beginning because I’ve never played on such a big court but I tried to keep fighting because Sam is such a great champion so it didn’t make it any easier.”
After settling to peg back an early break, Stosur reeled off five of the last six games to land the opening set.
But the 139th-ranked Bouzkova turned the match around to finish with 42 winners and an imposing 13 from 20 points at net.
Bouzkova was unstoppable in the final two sets, losing just two points on her first serve as wild card Stosur was left to rue being broken in the opening game of the second set after saving five break points.
“If I was able to hold that game, you never know. Maybe that gave her a bit of a sniff,” she said.
Still, Stosur was unperturbed by her form in the first-round defeat as she irons out her game ahead of the Australian Open.
“It’s not a total disaster,” she said. “She played well. I’m still really happy with quite a few things that I did out there and feel like I’ve still taken a step in the right direction.”
With six Czech women in the top 100 and Bouzkova fast showing signs of joining them, the 2014 junior US Open champion shared an insight into what may have been bolstering their ranks.
“I don’t know, maybe the food,” she said. “I really like [Czech] dumplings with special sauce that we have.”