By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday August 8, 2023
Now that the Wimbledon triumph is in the rearview mirror, Marketa Vondrousova is entering the second phase of her career. The 24-year-old is getting more attention than ever after becoming a major champion, and she’ll have to adjust to playing the sport she loves under a brighter spotlight than ever.
Now a card carrying member of the WTA’s Top 10, Vondrousova is still getting used to her newfound status.
“It's always tough to be coming back as a Grand Slam champion,” she said on Tuesday after defeating Mayar Sherif 6-4 6-2 in her first match since wimbledon. “It's something new for me."
Vondrousova is aware that expectations will be higher as she plays this summer in the United States. She hopes to keep things simple, keep her head down and keep working.
“People around me, I feel like they're going to expect so much now,” she said. “I know if you are a Grand Slam champion, the expectations are very high, but for me it's important to stay just in my small circle and just work on things and just to get through some matches, you know, with nerves and everything and just get used to the pressure and everything. So that's what I'm working on now.”
Tuesday marked a solid first step for Vondrousova. She managed her nerves well, rallying from a break down in the opening set, and running away with the last four games in the second set after a trade of breaks.
But make no mistake about it: the nerves were there.
“I was a bit nervous, and I feel like everybody is going to play great tennis, and everybody wants to beat you. But then I feel like I just play a couple of games, and you are back into your rhythm.”
And the pressure, like it or now, will be there as well.
"People are recognizing you more, you know, even in the city and everything," she said. "For me I don't like these kind of things to be seen this much."
Vondrousova will face Caroline Wozniackin in second round action at Montreal.