2023-04-25 00:56:10
Reaching the final phase of a category 1,000 tournament is one of the most complex challenges that exist in elite sport. But it is much more so if, in addition, you have to risk your participation in the previous phase. In the already long history of the Mutua Madrid Open (this year it celebrates its 21st edition) only four tennis players –Lucie Hradecka, Louisa Chirico, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Fabrice Santoro– have reached the semifinals after overcoming these previous rounds.
The most recent case is that of Alexandrova –seeded in this edition– that last year reached the semifinals after winning the first two qualifying matches. Only the champion, Ons Jabeur, was able to stop her excellent trajectory in the semifinals.
Previously, in 2012, the Czech Lucie Hradecka she was one step away from the final after losing against the almighty Serena Williams. Something similar happened to Louisa Chirico in 2016. The American managed to get from the previous one to the semifinals, where she fell to the Serbian Dominika Cibulkova. Three other players –Patricia María Tig, Caroline Garcia and Vera Dushevina– also reached the final phase of the tournament, but could not get past the quarterfinals.
The story is even tougher for those who climb from the ‘qualy’ in the men’s box. only one player Fabrice Santoro in 2003, he reached the semifinals, and four others –Agustín Calleri in 2002, Ivo Karlovic in 2005, Santiago Giraldo in 2014 and Dusan Lajovic in 2018– lost in the quarterfinals.
few conquer big tournaments playing from the beginning. Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021 after starting from the previous phase and being 150 in the WTA ranking. After the start of the MMO, it remains to be seen if any participant manages to deliver a similar surprise.
#difficulty #fighting #beginning