Daily Young World: June 24, 2025 – Challenges & Insights

Nobody wants to speak to Markéta Vondroušová on this brooding Sunday afternoon. The press conference with it has just been canceled. Due to the lack of interest from the press representatives present. They would have to kindly confirm their willingness to participate in the Whats app group of the press accredit with a thumb-high symbol beforehand. Too few did that. Perhaps because they are stunned by the heat or because they prefer to see the upcoming double final with Tortellini-doper Sara Errani and their partner Jasmine Paolini (they have just won the double competition of the French Open; on lawn in Berlin they lose the final against the mating Tereza Mihalíková/Olivia Nicholl 6: 4, 2: 6, 6:10).

So no press conference. Vondroušová has just won the Berlin Open final. 7: 6 (12:10), 4: 6, 6: 2 against the Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu. The day before, Vondroušová defeated the world ranking Aryna Sabalenka Glatt 6: 2, 6: 4. There was no press conference. Markéta Vondroušová will not have bothered. Most players do not like these press conferences. They prefer to enjoy the sight of their trophy or the magnum bottle champagne that was bonus in Berlin. Or they lick their wounds in the event of a defeat. And there is a defeat for a tennis professional practically every week.

Not so for Vondroušová in the week of the WTA 500 in Berlin. The path was not an easier. In the semifinals she was lucky that Sabalenka was visibly drained from the quarter -finals. This match on Friday afternoon – 7: 6, 4: 6, 7: 6 (8: 6) against her regular rival Elena Rybakina – was the best game of the tournament, perhaps the best of the season so far. The winner had also cost too much substance.

Every match has its rhythm. End games are practically independent of the course of a festive affair, then there is the matches in the morning or early evening, which slowly play into their rhythm or are simply predictable affairs. And then there are those that from the first rallies of flirs with intensity. Sabalenka against Rybakina in the quarter -finals of Berlin was such a match. Ultimately, Vondroušová benefited from it. But as I said, her way to the tournament victory was not easy. Already in the first round she got to deal with the current Australian Open winner Madison Keys set to seven and won it almost 7: 5, 7: 6 (8: 6). Keys then really looked amazed at how well vondroušová played again. The Czech did not play most of this season because of a shoulder injury. After the French Open, Berlin was only her second tournament after the injury break. And her first tournament victory after her sensational Wimbledon victory in 2023, even at the time-the only player in the Open ERA who succeeded.

Because of her injury, Vondroušová also had a so -called protected ranking, which all allowed her to be in the main field in Berlin. Otherwise, with her current world ranking position, she should have played the qualification. Like her opponent ons Jabeurs in the quarter -finals. At that time she was also her opponent in the Wimbledon final 2023 (and the winner in Berlin 2022). Jabeurs had even lost in the second round of qualifying – against none other than Wang Xinyu (!) – but came into the main field as a “Lucky Loser”.

In general, the qualification tournament had it in Berlin this year. There are not many preparation tournaments for Wimbledon in the short lawn season. Nine of the first ten in the world rankings had registered for the WTA 500 in Berlin. The “Cutoff” for the main field was initially 18th in the world rankings, exactly with Ljudmila Samsonowa (winner in Berlin 2021, semi -finalist this year). And although except for Iga świątek the entire top ten of the WTA in Berlin was represented, there was a final between an unsettled player and a qualifier. But even the WTA 500 the previous week in London had been won by a qualifier – the German veteran Tatjana Maria.

But it was also the final between a Wimbledon winner (Vondroušová) and an exceptional talent on fast coverings (Wang). The Chinese will surely regret her five set balls in the tiebreak of the first set. According to Petra Kvitova 2023, a Czech left -handed woman won the Rasmurnier in Berlin again. But Wang can also look ahead. However, she canceled her participation in the WTA 250 in Bad Homburg this week. In Wimbledon she won’t have to play any qualifications. On the contrary: As the current number 33 of the world rankings (40 places higher than Vondroušová), she has a good chance of slipping into the seed list of the tournament starting next Monday. All of this is one of the everyday paradoxes of the processes in profit tennis. Wang Xinyu won’t bother it.