BRATISLAVA. Slovak tennis player Renáta Jamrichová advanced to the third round of singles at the J&T Banka Slovak Open 2024 tournament.
The seventeen-year-old girl from Trnava beat Russia’s Julia Avdejevová after an almost two-hour battle in sets 6:4, 2:6 and 6:2.
“I evaluate the match positively. It was difficult, the opponent was unpredictable. She had an excellent first and second serve. I just had to swing it. It was very balanced and only a few balls decided,” said Jamrichová.
V duchu fair-play
Jamrichová earned applause from the audience not only for her performance. In the second set, with her break point, she corrected the linesman’s decision and conceded a point to her opponent. The game later went to a draw.
“Even so, I think I would have lost that set,” she jokingly assessed the situation.
With a more serious tone, she later explained her decision. “If I wasn’t sure if the ball was good or not, I would let the linesman decide.
But standing here, I saw that she was good. I would feel bad if I didn’t acknowledge her point. In any condition, that’s fair to say. If I had insecurities, I would leave it at that,” she said.
Power player
Jamrichová was up against a player who put all her strength into her shots and played with little technique. The Slovak does not like this style from her opponents.
“I prefer when I play those exchanges, I know how to enter the court, and towards the end of the match I felt a little insecure about those shots,” she explained.
On the other hand, the opponent made a lot of mistakes thanks to her playing style.
“It also helped me today. Especially in that game at 3:2 in the third set, she made mistakes and that really helped me. I was able to finish it after that,” added the 17-year-old Slovak.
Slovak fight
Jamrich’s next opponent will be her compatriot Radka Zelnčínková, who knocked out the favored Frenchwoman Pacquet.
So far, they have only met once in a competitive match, in 2022 they met at the W60 tournament in Trnava. Then Jamrichová won 6:2, 6:2.
A round later, she defeated the current Slovakian player Rebecca Šramková.
“I remember that, but it was a long time ago. It was in Trnava, where the surface was fast and I served well. I haven’t seen Radka play for a long time, but I know that she has good results,” she added, adding that for the match very happy.
Jamrichová is also pleased with the support of the spectators at the National Tennis Center (NTC) in Bratislava. However, he knows that tomorrow the spectators will be neutral, as it will be a Slovak fight.