The discovery of banned trimetazidine in February 2024 meant a personal tragedy for the young player knocking on the gates of the world’s top.
For many months, her family, at considerable expense, tried to find out where the substance got into her body. In the end, it worked, and anti-doping organizations admitted that she had taken trimetazidine unintentionally. A dietary supplement containing milk thistle extract was contaminated with it.
Bartůňková’s case was also very emotionally felt by Vladislav Šavrda, the head of her club I. ČLTK Prague. He also became an ardent critic of the applied double standard, as the then world number one Iga Šwiateková also criticized the Czech player for a similar offense. She received only a month’s distance, moreover, so as not to miss any important tournament.
“That was completely unbelievable. The case of Nikola was published the very next day, and with immediate effect she could not even go to Štvanice to punch a wall. For me, it was an unbelievable scandal,” says the former Davis Cup captain.
He was worried about Bartůňková. He was afraid of how the whole doping scandal would ruin her promising career. After all, in the course of the first part of the year, she fell to the sixth hundred in the ranking.
“I was very worried. She fell so deep that she could forget about any free cards. She had to start again from scratch, in the smallest tournaments. Nevertheless, she immediately performed excellently,” Šavrda praises herself.
Bartůňková played as if she had no break. Almost immediately, she began to move upwards. She rose almost 400 places in a single season and is now in 129th position. He will thus play his first career Grand Slam qualification at the Australian Open.
“If someone had told me this a year ago, I would have declared him an absolute dreamer,” admits the Štavanik manager now.
“It’s a huge relief. On the one hand, for us who experienced it with her, and an even bigger one for the family. Both parents devote themselves one hundred percent to her, accompanying her everywhere. It’s still a huge amount of nerves and money, due to investigating the cause and proving that she was wrongfully punished. No one will ever repay them,” he adds.
According to Šavrda, Bartůňková is now proving that she is a clear adept at advancing to the top 100. What will happen next, he can no longer guess. He once called the young talented player an “anomaly” because of her unconventional playing style. This is still true.
“The creativity there is above standard. She often goes to the net, certainly more often than tennis players are used to. She often shortens the game, even changes rotations, which is very positive,” says the experienced expert.
Šavrda believes that Bartůňková can match her more experienced compatriot Karolína Muchová with the attractiveness of her tennis.
“We all know how the whole world appreciates Kája for her tremendously creative and interesting game. It can be similar with Nikola. On the other hand, we have to admit that players like Sabalenkova or Anisimov basically lack creativity, they play men’s tennis. It is difficult to beat these players. That is why it is necessary to combine the nice, pleasant game with force,” she explains.
Šavrdov does not want to anticipate how far Bartůňková can take it.
“This is terribly difficult. Of course, she has a good footing, if only because now she will meet better players and continue to grow. This is an important step, it will move her forward again. She is already in top tennis, and her psyche will grow as a result,” concludes the manager of the Štvanice club.
