As a Grand Slam finalist, Marketa Vondrousova perhaps should have a bigger profile than she does.
However, this might be explained by the fact that, since her breakout run to the 2019 French Open final, she has barely played.
The 21-year-old will make her return to WTA action at this week's Palermo Ladies Open as professional tennis returns following a five-month break due to covid-19.
On court
Tennis insiders knew they were witnessing a talent when the then-17-year-old Czech captured her first WTA title in Biel, Switzerland in 2017 – in just her second tour-level main draw appearance.
She ended that season ranked No.67, maintained that position in 2018, and started 2019 strongly with finals at small WTA events in Budapest and Istanbul.
She also reached quarterfinals at Indian Wells, Miami and Rome, beating major champions Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko twice each along the way.
Yet few expected Vondrousova, then ranked No.38, to do what she did in Paris.
She upstaged a succession of experienced talents – including Carla Suarez Navarro, Anastasija Sevastova and Johanna Konta – before ultimately falling to Australia’s Ash Barty.
That Roland Garros result, achieved at age 19, propelled her inside the top 20 and took her 2019 win-loss record to 28-7.
Yet she played just two more events for the year, and none post-Wimbledon, after sustaining a left wrist surgery that required surgery in September.
In her comeback in 2020 she reached the Adelaide International quarterfinals, but managed only five more matches before coronavirus intervened.
Notable stat
Having never previously been beyond a Grand Slam fourth round, Vondrousova advanced to the 2019 Roland Garros final without losing a set.
Off court
Like many pro tennis players, Vondrousova comes from athletic stock.
Her mother was an elite volleyballer in the Czech Republic, her grandfather played in the country’s premier hockey league, and her grandfather was a national pentathlon champion.
Vondrousova showed a childhood talent for soccer before choosing to pursue tennis.
X-factor
Self-described as quiet and calm, she plays with a maturity and poise that belies her inexperience.
The left-hander’s court sense and variety of shots – especially a wicked dropshot – can flummox opponents.
This maturity perhaps developed because Vondrousova left home at age 15 to live and train in Prague. There, she thrived in the nucleus of the renowned Czech tennis system, becoming the world No.1 junior at age 16.
She gained valuable experience in the Fed Cup fold – debuting as a 17-year-old in the 2017 World Group semifinals – and by playing doubles with experienced compatriot Barbora Strycova.
Together, they reached the Australian Open 2019 semifinals a few months before her breakout French Open run.
She said …
After losing to Barty in the French Open final: “If anyone had told me before the tournament that I would have made the final, I would have said they were crazy. I can’t really believe it still, I think it’s going to change my life now.”
Experts are saying …
“I love her game because she plays the game very intuitively and has a great instinct, really soft hands, she doesn’t need to be coached much. You can’t really teach what she has.” – Petr Pala, Czech Fed Cup captain.