CHENNAI: When 34-year-old Pole Magda Linette lost the break point being 3-1 up in the first set against Janice Tjen at the Chennai Open final, it also brought her flashbacks from 2022. She was leading 4-1 in the deciding set of the final against Czechia’s Linda Fruhvirtova but later lost at the centre court.
But On Monday Linette managed to hold on, keep her Indonesian opponent at bay to win 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
It was not an easy week for the Pole. On one hand, she has had difficult matches, and came into this tournament on the string of first-round exits. “This whole week was just tough – every single match, every single opponent. We're fighting every single match and playing really good tennis. I'm really glad that this week I am finally getting my fight back. I made a few better decisions and then it was just really tough, so I was just really frustrated, but I let it go out very quickly and tried to reset.
Another thing the Pole had to deal with was the news of the deaths of six people due to a shooting in her home country.
According to reports, six people died in a shooting in the city of Krakow two days ago. Reports also say that the shooter has died in hospital after getting injured in the firing. Magda dedicated her win to them. “A further 16 were hurt. Somebody who was not well mentally went on a spree of killing people. We don’t really have shootings and guns. It was all sudden, which shook all of us,” she said.
Linette contemplated arriving here, as she initially was not keen on it, considering the poor form. “After I lost in Guangzhou, the organisers asked me If I was going to make it to Chennai. But I was in a state where I didn’t want to play because I played so bad. I went to sleep, but my team woke me up at 11 in the morning saying ‘we’re going, we decided for you.' And ever since I started winning here, everything seemed to have come back. I started to feel like myself again,” she said.
And after the title win, Linette finds herself in the top 50 of the WTA rankings. “It helps me plan my next season and also, those events at the beginning of the year, the WTA 1000 events, are so tough. So, to play every single one is not easy, so that gives me a chance to still be in the main draw and I had actually a very good beginning of the season, so that gives me a little bit of the cushion even if something goes wrong,” she said.