Crushing The Italians In The Fed Cup, Rebecca Sramkova Is A Star In The Making - UBITENNIS

Crushing The Italians In The Fed Cup, Rebecca Sramkova Is A Star In The Making

By Staff
7 Min Read
Rebecca Sramkova (zimbio.com)

Written by Andrei Bucko

It is said Rebecca Sramkova serves stronger than any other female player in Slovakian tennis history with speeds of approximately 200KM. Within the past 12 months she has risen over 200 places in the world rankings as she closes in on the top 100.

The most unique fact about the 20-year-old is that all of her achievements have been guided solely by her father and without any cooperation with the Slovakian tennis federation. Her father even built courts for her to practice on, including one on grass! He believes the federation doesn’t help young players and some aged between 22-23 are still playing ITF events, standing 2-3 meters behind the baseline and getting the ball over the net. He wants his daughter to dominate, attack, be aggressive and create the points. But he doesn’t push, he wants her to understand what it takes to be a great player.

Sramkova is a member of the Empire Tennis Club Academy Trnava in Slovakia. It is the same place where rising star is Daria Kasatkina practices with her coach Vladimir Platenik, who use to mentor Dominika Cibulkova. The two players practice together at the venue, but Sramkova is no Cibulkova. Slovakia has never had a harder serving woman in tennis with speeds between 190-200 KM. Last year at the Wimbledon Championships, Cibulkova averaged 160KM.

She started to play tennis at the age of 6 with her father, who was a recreational player. Her father paid for her first practice session, which started her passion. She was always dreaming about having a professional career and believed in herself.

“As a child you always lose some precious time playing with peers or going out, but tennis gave me more than other my friends have. I learnt much more and I gained more than lost,” she said. “I love travelling, meeting new people, new experiences.”

Her first idol was Serena Williams and still is, from the men’s tour it is Roger Federer. She admires Serena’s power, her way of play, professionalism and patience. Sramkova doesn’t want to copy the world No.1, but like Williams her serve is the most important shot. Rebecca wants to be Rebecca, not a copycat, but she likes Serena style. She can see a lot of potential to improve her dangerous service, with more speed and more effect (placing, higher percentage, spin). She likes hitting hard and risking going for her shots.

She always wanted to skip junior tournaments and compete with women. After the Roland Garros 2014 junior quarterfinal, she decided with her father to give up juniors and play in pro events. She didn’t consider the junior competition important. You can’t compare the power, physicality and experience. Juniors play the ball across the net and try to get all back. Meanwhile, professionals dictate the game, combine, prepare the point and think more on the court. This is why it is harder today to break through from juniors. You also need much better fitness preparation to last longer otherwise you will not survive the challenges, mental or physical.

Fed Cup breakthrough

During Slovakia’s Fed Cup tie against Italy, she told the captain before the tie that it could be won without Cibulkova and she can beat both Errani and Schiavone with an attacking style. She was watching and following the Italian players in Melbourne and she said that they don’t play very fast. Sramkova was proven right as she defeated Errani 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Schiavone 6-2, 6-4.

Last month at the Australian Open Sramkova qualified for the first time for the Grand Slam main draw, winning 3 matches in Melbourne. Now she is looking to play in bigger tournaments against higher ranked players.

Embarking on the main stage of the WTA Tour is far from straightforward, but Sramkova is receiving valuable advice from compatriot Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova was an integral part of Slovakia’s winning spirit with her experience and advice. Daniela and Jeanette Husarova, the Fed Cup coach, are two team members of the 2002 Slovak Fed Cup squad, who won the trophy. Hantuchova’s success against Errani inspired Sramkova to attack Schiavone. She has also asked Daniela for advice about how to organize a season calendar at her age when climbing the ranks to break through.

Sramkova doesn’t have a coach, her father Jozef coordinates her preparation and she is hitting with her  sparring partners. As a member of the Trnava Academy she likes training there because she can play with intensity and against players like Kasatkina, Svitolina and Safarova. But she also hits at home in Bratislava.

Her tennis career is financed by her father and she doesn’t have an agreement with the Slovak Tennis Federation, except for the Fed Cup. She collected her biggest ever cheque advancing to Australian Open main draw this year – 50,000 Australian dollars.

The route to where she is now was tough. Her father was strict, didn’t let her go clubbing, go out, but she is happy and grateful for that, she understands the importance of professionalism. Her dream was to play in the Fed Cup, even more than a Grand Slam tournament, because she attended some ties in Bratislava and always wanted to represent her country. After her successful week at the Australian Open she knew she would be nominated for the recent tie.

Now that she has played the Fed Cup and hopefully established herself in the team, she wants to climb in WTA ranking as well and play Grand Slams main draws. Her best friend on tour is the other Slovak tennis player Natalia Vajdova, daughter of Marian Vajda, Novak Djokovic coach.

Sramkova is currently ranked 118th in the world and has won five titles the ITF Tour.

 

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