I finally found some time between tennis practices, physical training, recovery sessions and organizing my next trip, to update you on the latest events of the 13th year of my professional career.
I already told you in my last article that I was planning to change the continent again in January. In the meantime, I have decided together with my team, that I will start the 2024 season in January with two W35 tournaments [the new categories of the ITF tournaments] in Buenos Aires.
One reason for this choice is the surface (clay), another one: the nice weather compared to the same period in Antalya (in the same period a W50 and a W35 tournament are played in Turkey, but I don’t have the best memories from there…), and a third advantage, the acceptance list. There aren’t as many good players as in Europe, so I had a better chance of entering the qualifiers with my current ranking [in the meantime I’ve moved up to the main draw].
But there was a problem: the budget.
Especially since even now the organizers of the tournament in Valencia did not pay the prize money I earned (for the quarterfinals in singles and title in doubles).
I also notified the ITF about this situation and asked in that email why we are not given a minimum financial protection in the sense of calling upon the organizers to block the total amount of the prizes in an account, so that immediately after the tournament the payments are made automatically. Especially at events where the revenues from the spectators are practically zero.
I also added: Otherwise, in the ITF’s official statements we are reading about millions and billions of dollars, but in the real world, the financial prizes at a tournament of 15,000 USD are a dramatic problem.
But macro issues left aside, I needed to find a way to earn money in order to buy my plane ticket.
One option was to participate in a UTR tournament in France which started on January 1st, but it was played on hard and was scheduled to close to the departure for Buenos Aires.
In the meantime, a better option appeared, a national tournament in Vienna – we talked about these tournaments before – on clay, which took place two weeks before my departure to South America.
I had to win it order to have money for the flight ticket.
After 5 days of training at home, I left on the first day of Christmas for Vienna. I was going to stay at Polina Leykina, one of the girls I befriended and get along with very well on the tour, but also to meet up with dear friends I have in Austria.
With Polina, after practicing together in Vienna
So, I wasn’t sad that I’ll be spending a Holiday on the road again. Anyway, I spent a few very pleasant hours on Christmas Eve, with my parents.
With Monica, on Christmas Day at Otopeni airport and after practicing together before our departure
So, on December 25th I set off for Vienna, at the same hour as Monica Niculescu, who was heading to the Australian tour.
On Christmas, I did an accommodation training with Polina, because Tuesday I was going to start the tournament.
I played the first round at 20:00, although I was scheduled for 16:30. A long wait for a 45′ match. Luckily, I wasn’t alone and I didn’t get bored.
The second round was scheduled for the next day at 9 am, so very little recovery time for a supposed difficult match against a player with experience in the ITF circuit. And that’s how it was. I won after a three-hour battle in which neither of us wanted to give up. A very good tennis and I was glad to find my fighting attitude again.
In the next two matches I raised my level even more and was dominant
Next, I was going to play the final.
I hadn’t played for a singles title in a year and a half, so I wanted to show my best tennis and become champion.
My opponent was a 13-year-old Austrian tennis prodigy, who had defeated Polina in the quarterfinals and had recently become the Austrian national champion.
No emotions and with a good plan, with encouragement from my friends, who supported me at every match and advice from my team at home, I played my best match of the week and won 6-0, 6-1.
Champion in Vienna. Together with the runner-up Anna Pircher and the friends who supported me all week
I had won the tournament.
It was the first title, after a long time and after three serious injuries.
I am proud that – exactly as planned a little while ago – I coped well with the pressure created this time not by the WTA points and only to a small extent by my opponents, but by the money, which I absolutely needed in order to start my season.
Those who have criticized me in the past or are still criticizing me because I play such tournaments or matches in National Championships abroad and do not focus only on official tournaments, maybe understood from my articles that I do not have another choice.
In the absence of sponsors, with delayed payments from the ITF tournaments, there is no other solution for the cash flow needed in my career.
The value of the financial prize was equal with the cost of the flight ticket to Argentina and back.
So, I bought it immediately and also paid for half of the accommodation in Buenos Aires, with the help of those who were by my side me every step of the way and whom I want to thank again.
I hope that eventually the money from Valencia will arrive, so that I can also pay for the rest of the days at the hotel.
Now I am preparing hard in the last practices home and my technical team gives me welcomed advice, because again I will be alone at the two tournaments.
