Former top-10 player Patty Schnyder will end her five-year absence from the WTA Tour on Wednesday at the Gstaad Open.
The 37-year-old mother-of-one hasn’t played a match on the main stage of the women’s tour since her loss to Sorana Cirstea in the first round of the 2011 French Open. Schnyder returned to competitive tennis last summer at an ITF $25,000 tournament in Darmstadt, Germany. Since then, she has played mainly on the ITF circuit. In her comeback, the Swiss player has won a duo of $10,000 titles in Prague and Bastad. Her run since September has resulted in Schnyder rising almost 500 places in the rankings to 338th in the world.
The hard work invested by the former world No.7 has resulted in her earning a wildcard for this week’s Gstaad Open, a WTA 250 event. The return to the main tour is one welcomed by many tennis fans. On the other hand, it is also one that brings a great level of uncertainty for Schnyder.
“It’s hard to tell what will happen,” Schnyder told the AFP.
“You can only judge once you’ve played the girls.
“It is hard to say what would be a good week here. If I play a great first match and my opponent plays a better one, well, would that be a good week?”
“I just feel ready to try and win any match every time I step onto the court. It would be the same in any round.”
Schnyder’s first round opponent will be Czech world No. 93 Kateřina Siniaková, a player who would have been just 15-years-old when she last played a match on the tour. A win could set the Swiss player up with an intriguing second round clash against fifth seed Annika Beck.
Nobody knows what the future holds for Schnyder, not even herself. When she returned to the tour last year, she had no target of re-entering the top-100 or playing in another grand slam tournament. When asked about why she returned to the tour, Schnyder replied ‘no particular reason’. The current goal for the world No.338 is to just live in the moment and continue enjoying the sport she loves playing. Something she seems to be doing pretty well.
Schnyder’s meeting with Siniaková is scheduled to be the third match on centre court on Wednesday.
