The focus at this ASB Classic has been about the big stars, but Emma Navarro and Marie Bouzkova sent out reminders not to overlook either of them as they both had emphatic second round wins on Wednesday.
With how the schedule has been for the first four days of the Classic, all the big names have been playing on one day, while the other day has featured the lesser lights, probably to the frustration of those who bought tickets for Monday or Wednesday’s sessions.
But those who packed out Centre Court on Wednesday still got to see scintillating performances from Navarro and Bouzkova, who are the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively.
Navarro thrashed Russia’s Elina Avanesyan 6-1 6-2, which was followed by Bouzkova’s demolition of Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-1.
It wasn’t really a surprise seeing Navarro win like she did, but Anisimova looked impressive in her first round win over Anastasia Pavluchenkova, so was expected to be able to back that up against Bouzkova.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Marie Bouzkova has set up a clash against either Emma Raducanu or Elina Svitolina in the second round.
“I thought she played well and it just wasn’t my day today. I wasn’t playing great, it was just one of those days,” Anisimova said afterwards.
The American felt she didn’t adjust well from playing a night match in Auckland, to one in the middle of the day, when the speed of the court had changed.
“I’ve consistently been playing well in practice and it was colder weather at night (on Monday), so the court was playing a bit different,” she said.
“It was slower and I wasn’t expecting it to be so fast, so it caught me off guard and then after the match I realised a couple of things I wasn’t aware of when I was playing.”
But as Anisimova makes her preparations to head to Melbourne, Navarro and Bouzkova look ahead to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Bouzkova will play the winner of the match between Emma Raducanu and Elina Svitolina, while Navarro will have to see who comes out on top in the clash between Yuan Yue and the seventh seed Petra Martic.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Amanda Anisimova was outplayed by Marie Bouzkova on Wednesday.
Given how both of them played in their matches on Wednesday, it would be foolish to rule either of them out.
Navarro said she wasn’t anticipating a win like she had, but will gladly take a place in the next round.
“I try not to expect too much beforehand, I try to focus on the things that are within my control,” Navarro said.
“I focus on those few things and not expect much out of the score result of the match.
“I didn’t really have any scoreline in mind before, but I’m definitely pleased with how it went and also we had a lot of close games, it was definitely closer than the score said.”
Navarro had a break through year in 2023. She started it ranked 127 in the world and finished it at 31. Her results this week in Auckland have shown she’s continuing that momentum.
“I am working hard to not have the mindset that I have to back anything up, or defend anything I did last year,” she said.
“I’m trying to keep the mindset that I’m continuing to move forward, improve my game and keep getting better. So I definitely want to keep that mindset, but I’m happy with how my tennis is coming along and I’m hoping to continue on that path.
Navarro, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina doesn’t mind that there hasn’t been much attention on her during the Classic, in fact she likes it that way.
“I prefer the focus to be on other players,” she said.
“It’s something I’ve had to get used to, being more in the spotlight and it’s not my favourite thing.
“I’ve been able to get a bit more used to it, but it’s nice having the focus on other players.”
Meanwhile, Bouzkova was equally surprised at how one-sided her match was.
“I don’t think it could have been a better match for me,” she said.
“I served really well. I went for my shots when I could.
“Obviously, Amanda has really big shots, so it’s not easy to be aggressive. But I tried to do it and I’m happy with the overall game today.
“I’m always ready to battle out there for three hours if that’s necessary, so I’m really happy to get the win like this and I’m looking forward to the next round.”
There was an upset in the evening session on Wednesday when Diane Parry from France knocked out the No 3 seed, Lesia Tsurenko 2-6 6-4 6-1.
Later in the evening in the potentially all Kiwi doubles match Lulu Sun and Jade Otway defeated Monique Barry and Elyse Tse 6-3 6-2.
“It was great, it was a really cool atmosphere to be out on Centre Court with Lulu,” Otway said.
“It was obviously the first time we’ve played together but it felt like we connected well and played some good doubles.”
For Sun, it was beneficial to get a taste of Centre Court before she plays Varvara Gracheva in the second round of singles on Thursday.
“It was definitely a good practice,” Sun said.
“You can see the width of the court and depth of well. You have a lot of space.”
