MONTERREY/WASHINGTON, March 16, 2021 (by Michael Dickens)
Renata Zarazua has been trailblazer in her native Mexico – and it runs in the family. Last year, following a breakthrough semifinal run in Acapulco, Zarazua became just the fourth Mexican woman in the Open Era to compete in the main draw of a Grand Slam, at the French Open, where she won a round and earned a second-round clash with No. 3 seed Elina Svitolina, which she ultimately lost 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.
After qualifying for the main draw at Roland Garros, Zarazua became the first Mexican woman to win a main draw match at a major since Angélica Gavaldón reached the second round of the 2000 Australian Open. After her milestone 6-1, 6-2 triumph over France’s Elsa Jacquemot, Zarazua was quoted by the WTA website saying: “It means a lot. I think it’s not only a win, I think it means even more than that. I’m super happy. I think I’m living a dream here in Paris. So, I just want to enjoy every match and enjoy every opportunity that it’s been giving me being here this week.”
During last year’s pandemic-interrupted 2020 season, Zarazua garnered victories over Sloane Stephens and Eugenie Bouchard, both whom are in the draw of the WTA 250 Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey this week, which began Monday. It’s where Tennis TourTalk caught up with the personable and proud 23-year-old, both before and after her first-round match against Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia.
At the Abierto Mexicano TelCel in Acapulco in February of 2020, just weeks before the five-month shutdown of the WTA season, Zarazua’s 6-4, 6-2 first-round win over Stephens en route to becoming the first Mexican woman to play a WTA semifinal since 1993 vaulted her into the Top 200. Then, following her Roland Garros performance, her ranking improved to No. 149. She finished the pandemic-interrupted year, in which she played on both the WTA and ITF tours, ranked 142nd with a very respectable win-loss record of 31-12.
In Acapulco, @RenataZarazuaOf lit up the courts with her stunning first-round upset of top seed Stephens 🤩
In an exclusive interview, Zarazua reflects on her historic run and lockdown life –> https://t.co/EtHIPKbC0Q pic.twitter.com/LsVBgDFdgw
— wta (@WTA) April 14, 2020
On Monday evening, the 5-foot-3 (1.60m) Zarazua, whose playing style is reminiscent of Dominika Cibulkova, was featured on Club Sonoma’s Estadio GNP Seguros against Zidansek. In their third career head-to-head meeting (with their series tied 1-all), the 144rd-ranked Zarazua lost to the No. 93 Zidansek, 7-6 (8), 6-3, in an hour and 51 minutes after being outpointed by her more experienced opponent 77-62. Zarazua, who had difficulty with winning points on her first serve, valiantly saved five set points in the opening-set tie break before finally succumbing on the sixth set-point try by Zidansek. Then, her serve was broken three times during the second set and she never won more than four points in a row during the loss.
Afterward, when Zarazua was asked by Tennis TourTalk what she will take away from her defeat, she said: “It’s nice, of course that I played a featured match at night. Unfortunately, it was a little bit sad there was no crowd. When you’re down or need that extra energy, the crowd helps a lot.
“Last year, when I played her in Acapulco, I had all the crowd behind me and they gave a lot of energy. This year, [Tamara] played better. She played me differently than I expected. I couldn’t play my best. I knew I had to play my best to beat her – she’s a higher-ranked player. It was hard to win a point against her.
“It was nice I got to play in Mexico, but I felt a little bit of pressure, too. I’m just going to try to improve and get better.”
During a Sunday morning virtual press conference, in which she spoke fluently in both in her native Spanish and English, Tennis TourTalk asked Zarazua what it meant to her to be able to play two weeks in a row in her home country, first in Guadalajara and now in Monterrey, after receiving main draw wild cards into both tournaments. She said: “It means a lot for me. Last week, it was really tough to handle the pressure. That’s my hometown in Guadalajara, so for me – especially the first match – with a little bit of a crowd, I wasn’t used to it.”
Zarazua beat No. 128 Katarzyna Kawa of Poland, 7-6 (7), 6-0, before losing in the next round to No. 111 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
“I mean, it’s been a year that I’ve played with no crowd,” she continued. “So, it was hard to handle the nerves. This week, I’m super excited. There’s no crowd and I’m a little bit sad about that, but I’m happy to be here – I’m enjoying my time – and it’s super nice to be here in Mexico and play.”
When Zarazua was asked what she remembered about her milestone week last year in Acapulco, where she was ranked 270th at the time, it brought a big smile to her face. “Definitely, it was a great week for me. Beating Sloane gave me a lot of confidence and also the people cheered me on every match. It was a great atmosphere,” she said. “It’s a week I’ll never forget during my career my whole life.
“Whenever I see pictures or video of it, it gets me really emotional because I felt like I was living a dream a little bit. Also, my result there helped me to have the confidence to have a great year even though there weren’t a lot of tournaments. Then, afterward, I was able to play good at the French Open and at some other tournaments the rest of the year. It was a big year for me, getting through to the semifinals [at Acapulco] and for the rest of the year.”
“To be honest, he just says very quick things. I never understand half of the things.”
When your brother is your coach 😂@RenataZarazuaOf #AMT2020 pic.twitter.com/3DLKsMqp7w
— wta (@WTA) February 28, 2020
Regarding Zarazua’s family ties to tennis, her older brother Patricio has been one of her coaches – and, as it turns out, Zarazua’s great uncle, Vicente Zarazua, 76, a Mexican pro in the 1960s and ’70s, played in 16 Davis Cup ties for his country and also won a pair of gold medals in doubles at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games in both the demonstration and exhibition events.
The younger Zarazua said that although she never got to see her great uncle play, last year in Acapulco he came to see two of her matches. She’s fond of the memories.
“He was super happy. He told me he was even more nervous than when he used to play,” Zarazua said. “I think just having him in my life, he gave me some advice as well about his experiences and everything he went thought.
“I think just whatever he says to me is going to be in a nice way going to help me,” she continued. “Coming from him, I take it always as a positive thing. I never doubt about if he’s saying something right or wrong, or saying something just to make me happy. For me, just having him in my family is a pleasure. Sometimes, people know me because of him. It’s really funny but he was a great player.”
Indeed, in 2008, Vicente Zarazua was introduced to the Hall of Fame of Immortals by the Mexican Council for Sport and Professional Spectacles.
Looking ahead to the 2021 season as it unfolds, Zarazua’s goals are modest but meaningful: “No. 1 is to get into the Top 100. I’m not far from that – I’m close – but I need to keep working. I need to keep improving. I can’t sit and relax and hope I make it. I know I have to work on a lot of things. Another goal is I want to play the Olympics. I hope I get to represent Mexico. It would be a big thing for me.”
Indeed, becoming the second member of her family to represent Mexico in an Olympics would no doubt make her great uncle – not to mention her country – very proud.
Closing out Day 1 at ☀️ @Abierto_GNP
First Round Results 👇
Schmiedlova d. Boulter 6-4, 6-0
Paolini d. (9) Hibino 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
(8) Li d. Rus 6-3, 7-5
Kuzmova d. Dolehide 6-3, 6-1
Davis d. Sherif 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
Zidansek d. Zarazua 7-6, 6-3
Fernandez d. Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2 pic.twitter.com/mRfhzrkTFu— wta (@WTA) March 16, 2021
Alexander Zverev: Too tough for Alcaraz in Acapulco
Too tough for the kid 💪
2019 Acapulco runner-up @AlexZverev pulls away from 17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz to win 6-3, 6-1. #AMT2021 pic.twitter.com/Qldy4Ql7T1
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 16, 2021
Going inside the mind of Andrey Rublev
During World No. 8 Andrey Rublev’s virtual press conference in Dubai Monday, the young 23-year-old Russian compared playing tennis with chess:
“I hope and I think chess can help in tennis, in a maybe strategy-wise, it can help you to have better patience. In my case, I’m playing chess the same way like tennis I try to take a queen and to lead the match, like in tennis. I try to take the forehand and be the one who is dictating. So, in chess, I’m trying to do the same way. I try to put all the figures in the way to open everything for the queen and to start to prepare my attack only with the queen (laughing). But in the end, it’s nothing to compare. It’s still two different things.”
#8 Thank you Rotterdam🖤🇳🇱 @abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/jJXhyQkohJ
— Andrey Rublev (@AndreyRublev97) March 7, 2021
Debbie Kirkwood: New ITF head of performance and events
The ITF is pleased to announce Debbie Kirkwood as the new Head of Performance and Events in the Tennis Development department: https://t.co/uOVRDT0yTy pic.twitter.com/3Y6S0fLtmk
— ITF Media (@ITFMedia) March 15, 2021
Battle of the Brits: New tickets released
Extra tickets released for @BattleofTheBrit Scotland v England at @PandJLive arena in Aberdeen 21-22 December. There are 3 sessions across the 2 days and @andy_murray will play in each session. 🏴 🏴
Details in link below👇🏼 https://t.co/CsZDQVsXkO— judy murray (@JudyMurray) March 15, 2021
Daniil Medvedev: The rise to No. 2
On Monday, Daniil Medvedev, who won the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, France, over the weekend, took over the men’s World No. 2 ranking. It ended the 794-week streak of one of the Big Four – Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray – holding the No. 2 ranking.
A magnificent achievement for @DaniilMedwed 👏
For the first time since July 2005, a man not named Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray is in the top two of the @FedEx ATP Rankings. pic.twitter.com/tdmZwxxcur
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 15, 2021
Barbora Krejcikova: Third time, lucky time?
The Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova knows what it’s like to win titles playing doubles. Now, she’s trying to prove she can do it in singles, too. Last Saturday in Dubai, she played in just the second WTA tour-level singles final of her career and fell to Garbiñe Muguruza. She lost in her only other WTA singles final at Nürnberg in 2017. As she posted on social media Monday, “Third time, lucky time?”
Tak snad do třetice? 🥈🏆
Third time, lucky time? 🥈🏆#tennis #finalist #ddftennis #wta @DDFTennis @WTA pic.twitter.com/v8G1wCbYqT
— Barbora Krejcikova (@BKrejcikova) March 15, 2021
The incredible feeling of winning
Winning a title is always an incredible feeling. 🏆
Winning your first as a father is even more special. 👶
Both 🇷🇺 Evgenii Tiurnev and 🇮🇹 Andreas Seppi made that a reality on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/X5J7ZOupaa
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 15, 2021
Congratulations, Taylor Townsend and Tommy Robredo
Congratulations to @TaylorTownsend on the birth of her son, Adyn Aubrey! ❤️💙
Welcome to the Freedoms family, Adyn!pic.twitter.com/FEm8wUvR12
— Philadelphia Freedoms (@PhillyFreedoms) March 15, 2021
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By the numbers
Today, @DaniilMedwed rises to No. 2 & ends Big 4’s 794-week streak in Top 2 of @FedEx ATP Rankings.
No. 1 Weeks since 25 July 2005@DjokerNole 312@RogerFederer 233@RafaelNadal 209@Andy_Murray 41
No. 2 Weeks since 25 July 2005
Rafa 368
RF 203
Djokovic 144
Murray 79
Medvedev 1— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) March 15, 2021
550e victoire sur le circuit professionnel pour Richard Gasquet, près de 19 ans après la première. pic.twitter.com/gbbxnebd9q
— Quentin Moynet (@QuentinMoynet) March 15, 2021
What they’re saying
Alexander Zverev is not happy with the frozen ranking system:
“I’m Roger Federer’s biggest fan, but he hasn’t played in a year and is above me in the rankings. I have played a Grand Slam final, a Masters 1000 final, right now the system is a mess.” pic.twitter.com/i1GZ5AtrYg
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) March 15, 2021