Article 05 Nov 2022

'She can beat anybody': Valentova stars as Czech Republic reach final

Ross McLean

05 Nov 2022

Two of the most successful nations in Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by BNP Paribas history will go head-to-head to be crowned 2022 champions after Czech Republic and USA navigated their last-four showdowns to reach tomorrow’s final.

Czech Republic’s tussle with Japan, who finished runners-up in 2017 and 2021, went the distance, with Tereza Valentova and Magdalena Smekalova holding their nerve to drag their nation over the line.

Valentova had earlier hauled the Czechs level with victory over junior world No. 7 Sara Saito, who won the maiden Grade A title of her career at Osaka last month, after Mayu Crossley had defeated Lucie Urbanova in the opening singles.

In Valentova, the Czechs have a formidable operator. She is ranked No. 11 in the junior rankings and after two further wins against Japan took her tally of victories this week to seven across both singles and doubles. She received plenty of post-match plaudits.

“It was a very tough semi-final, and I am really proud of the girls,” Czech Republic captain David Skoch told itftennis.com.

“Tereza did a fantastic job in singles, and we believe she can beat anybody here. The situation today was tough, but she played the best tennis she could, and she won – perfect.”

Czech Republic now have the chance to make it back-to-back Billie Jean King Cup Juniors titles, having topped the podium during last year's extravaganza at the Megasaray Tennis Academy.

Representing the Czechs in that event were prodigiously talented trio Brenda Fruhvirtova, Sara Bejlek and Nikola Bartunkova, who have all progressed and are now ranked within the top 300 of the WTA Rankings.

Not only does that reflect the importance of Billie Jean King Cup Juniors in the development of players, but also underlines the undoubted power of Czech tennis. All three of these individuals are aged 16 and under, meaning they could have been selected to feature here again.

“It is really tough to retain this title and you have to remember that we are not playing with our three highest-ranked girls, who won it last year,” added Skoch. “This makes it more difficult of course but does show the unbelievable strength of Czech tennis.”

Should Czech Republic dispatch USA tomorrow, it will be their sixth tournament title and would see them draw level with USA on the list of all-time Billie Jean King Cup Juniors winners. Valentova is eager to claim such a prestigious trophy with girls she has grown up with and known for some time.

“We are happy that we won this tie and are through to the final because it was very tough and all the team are very happy,” Valentova told itftennis.com. “We are a strong team and we must now go and fight. Hopefully that will be enough.

“We are such a close unit and we have all known each other for years. It would be so special to win this title with girls I have known for a long time.”

USA, meanwhile, had a more straightforward passage to the final as Valerie Glozman and Clervie Ngounoue chalked up singles wins against Serbia’s Teodora Kostovic and Mia Ristic respectively to fire their nation into unassailable lead.

Glozman, who hails from Seattle, was in fine form and ruthlessly outmanoeuvred Kostovic after being elected to lead the Team USA huddle before the start of play. It clearly stood her in good stead.

“I was really nervous to lead the huddle,” said Glozman. “I am not super-loud in general and I was out of my comfort zone a little bit but I had a lot of fun doing it and it helped get the chants going later in the day.

“Making it to the final is amazing. I love being part of a team where everyone is a great competitor, and everyone just loves being out there on court supporting one another.

“I don’t know any of the Czech Republic girls so it will be interesting to face them in the final. I am loving getting all this experience as I have never played internationally before. It’s really fun to face new competition.”