FCI Staff Writer Sacramento 
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November 30, 2023,
When you play against the elite and most high ranking players of women’s tennis, in a major tournament, most likely, you win some and you lose some, as the elite level player, Marketa Vondrousova is finding out, competing in the 2023 WTA finals.
The great news though, Marketa had a fantastic year just to qualify to be there.
The WTA Finals is the season-ending championship of the WTA Tour.
It is the most significant tennis event in the women’s annual calendar after the four majors, as it features the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams based on their results throughout the season.
Since 2003, the tournament has used a unique format not seen in other WTA Tour events as the players are separated into two groups of four, within which they each play three round-robin matches. The top two players or teams from each group after the round-robin stage move on to a knock-out format in the semifinals and final to determine the champion.
From the outside looking in, seems a little complex but there is a massive incentive to participate.
The WTA Finals has the largest prize money and ranking points after the majors. In the tournament’s current format, the champion can earn a maximum of 1,500 ranking points, if they win the event as an undefeated champion in the round-robin stage.
We understand why Marketa would make room in her busy schedule to travel there. And she greatly deserves to be there.
Let’s take a look at her resume.
Markéta is a Czech professional tennis player with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 by the WTA.
She was born in Sokolov.
Sokolov is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants.
The region is known for mining of lignite.
Often referred to as soft brown coal, lignite is mined all around the world and is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. The largest employer based in the town is Sokolovská uhelná, a major Czech mining company.
What will help get you into the WTA championships?
Marketa is the reigning Wimbledon champion, winning the tournament in 2023, the first unseeded woman to win the singles title.
As reported by theguardian.com, “On Saturday afternoon, the unseeded Czech completed a magical fortnight by defeating Ons Jabeur, the sixth seed, 6-4, 6-4 to become a grand slam champion for the first time at Wimbledon.”
What an incredible accomplishment.
There’s more.
She was also the runner-up at the 2019 French Open, where she became the first teenage Major finalist in nearly a decade. She has won two singles titles out of six finals on the WTA Tour and a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Marketa is a former junior world No. 1, having won two major doubles titles.
She had a quick breakthrough on the WTA Tour, winning the 2017 Ladies Open Biel Bienne at age 17 in just her second career WTA Tour singles event.
This helped her reach the top 100 of the WTA rankings before turning 18. Ms. Vondroušová struggled with injuries early in her career, most notably missing the second half of the 2019 season shortly after her French Open final.
Our associates at Femcompetitor Magazine wrote about that before the 2020 Australian Open, “Excitement is building.
Swelling in the often sweltering Australian January heat.
Fans do not mind because the best of the best show up for the first major Grand Slam of the year and the Australian Open delivers in huge star driven ways.
Yes plural.
One star who has her fans eagerly anticipating her return after a debilitating injury is Marketa Vondrousova.
Previous to the 2020 Australian Open, as reported by wtatennis.com, “Fourth seed Belinda Bencic resumes an old junior rivalry with Daria Kasatkina as first-round action kicks off the brand new Adelaide International, while Roland Garros runner-up Marketa Vondrousova makes her return from a six-month injury hiatus, Anastasija Sevastova seeks to maintain an unbeaten record against Donna Vekic and Petra Kvitova’s withdrawal moves Angelique Kerber into the seeded ranks.”
That is good news. Marketa is back and all eyes will be on her down under.
She made huge news at the 2019 French Open by reaching the finals.”
In terms of that time period the WTA reported back in September of 2019, “After struggling with a left wrist injury after her breakthrough French Open run, Marketa Vondrousova announced she is out for the rest of the 2019 season after undergoing surgery.
The World No.22-ranked Vondrousova, a lefty, had been turning heads earlier in the year after reaching the final in Budapest – then the second WTA final of her career – and backing it up with back-to-back quarterfinal runs at Premier Mandatories Indian Wells and Miami.”
We are so glad Marketa made a full recovery.
In terms of her playing style, Marketa’s signature shot is the drop shot.
Generally speaking, she has a crafty style of play and employs a wide variety of shots. She developed this type of playing style from working with one of her early coaches Jan Fuchs, who played the same way.
Her game often includes long, strategic rallies in which she makes use of her left-handed topspin forehand.
Her favorite surface is clay, the surface she grew up playing on. She also likes hard courts because of her playing style. She excels in her return game more than her service game.
Important stat.
In 2019, she led the WTA Tour in first serve points won on return among players with at least ten matches, winning 43.4% of them. She was also first in percentage of return games won and percentage of return points won overall.
Extremely impressive.
No matter how the WTA Finals turns out for Marketa, this has to be a banner year and hopefully gives her strong momentum as she propels towards the 2024 Australian Open.
She has won one recent Grand Slam trophy so maybe it is time to add another one to the mantel.
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OPENING PHOTO Shutterstock-Alex-Bogatyrev-photo-credit-Editorial-use- fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com fcielitecompetitor.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokolov,_Czech_Republic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignite
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/08/french-open-womens-final-barty-vs-vondrousova/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTA_Finals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark%C3%A9ta_Vondrou%C5%A1ov%C3%A1
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
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