Winning the first set two weeks in a row, from being overturned to making a comeback, Buzkova claims her first victory over Badosa

In professional tennis, apart from the men's Grand Slams, all other events including women's matches follow a best-of-three sets rule. This means that players who win the opening set usually have a greater probability of winning the match. Yet, exceptions do occur. A player recently met the same rival two weeks in a row and turned a previous loss into a comeback victory, creating a thrilling story. So, who is this player? And who is her opponent? Let this article take you through the details.

This player is Czech athlete Buzkova, who has won a tour title, reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, and achieved a career-high ranking of 24, marking her as a formidable competitor. In early January, Buzkova cruised past Romanian player Cristian 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the WTA500 Brisbane tournament. In the second round, her opponent was Spanish player Badosa. They had met four times before, with Badosa winning each encounter. Moreover, Buzkova had only managed to take one set in those four matches. Objectively, Badosa held the psychological edge in their rivalry.

In this match, the first set was tightly contested with both players holding serve to reach a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Buzkova played more aggressively and took the lead, marking the first time she had led in their head-to-head battles. However, in the second set, former WTA1000 champion Badosa won 6-4, pushing the match to a deciding set. In the final set, a rejuvenated Badosa launched relentless attacks, breaking Buzkova’s serve multiple times and secured a 6-2 comeback victory, earning her fifth win against Buzkova, who unfortunately exited the tournament.

This week, after comfortably defeating Serbian player Krunic in the first round of the WTA500 Adelaide qualifiers, Buzkova lost in the final qualifying round to Kazakhstan’s Putintseva. However, due to withdrawals of higher-ranked players, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser. In the first round, Buzkova once again faced Badosa.

In this match, Badosa took the first set 6-3. Given her previous unbeaten record against Buzkova, Badosa’s victory seemed likely. Although Buzkova responded by winning the second set 6-3 to push the match into a decider, most people still expected Badosa to win. In the final set, during a close scoreline, Buzkova broke Badosa’s serve and earned a match point. She then closed out the match confidently on her own serve, securing the victory.

From being overturned to staging a comeback, Buzkova has clearly grown a lot. More importantly, this marks her first career win over Badosa. Perhaps Buzkova has finally overcome her mental hurdle. Hopefully, she will achieve great results in future tournaments. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)