Sunday was a busy day for tennis fans with two Slovaks, Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova and Martin Kližan winning finals of top professional tournaments in Katowice, Poland and Casablanca, Morocco respectively.
The 20 year old Schmiedlova has reached her second WTA final of her career in Katowice after being a runner up to Sara Errani in Rio earlier this year. Seed no 8, the Slovak admitted she was very nervous in the semifinal which she played against Alison van Uvytvanck, another promising young player. In the final she met Italy's Camila Giorgi who broke local fans' hearts after defeating the top Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis. Schmiedlova and Giorgi had never met before and the Slovak won 6-4, 6-3
„It's something special. I still can't believe it - it will take a long time for me to believe it. I started out nervous today. I lost my serve straight off in the first game. But then it got better, and I calmed down. I was just taking it point by point. Usually I don't like playing aggressive players like her as much, because I can't play as aggressively as them and I feel like I'm always defending, but I did very well. It was maybe one of the best matches I've played"
This title pushes Schmiedlova to the 46th place in the world rankings, the best of her career so far.
In Casablanca Martin Kližan, currently ranked number 29 in the world met Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver in his third ATP final of her career. He has already won two ATP titles in St Petersburg in 2012 and Munich 2014. It was an easy job for the Slovak to win in two straight sets 6-2,6-2.
„It's an amazing feeling . I wished to be a champion in Casablanca and today I am. I am very proud and excited now. The crowd was unbelievable, they always support me," said Martin Kližan for whom this title has a special meaning. "I would like to dedicate the trophy to my grandfather, who passed away last week, and also to those who died in a bus crash in southern Morocco on Friday."
