It has been nothing but a fairytale week at the French Open for the injury-plagued Petra Martic.
Playing in her first grand slam main draw since 2015, the Croat demonstrated her talent with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1, win over Anastasija Sevastova in the third round on Sunday. The impressive performance saw her win 83% of first service points, hit two aces and fire 21 winners. Martic’s latest achievement has elevated her into the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time since 2012.
“Only once I played the fourth round before and it was actually here (Roland Garros) five years ago. So it’s unbelievable. I still cannot believe I did it.” The delight Croat said during her post-match press conference.
Martic’s Roland Garros run comes less than a year after she had doubts about about if she will be able to play the sport ever again. A back injury forced the 26-year-old out of action for ten months. At first, her camp assumed the issue would take a couple of months to heal. Due to the setback, she fell to a low of 662nd in the world earlier this year.
“I started doubting if I could ever play again and that was the toughest part for me” She explained.
“If I knew at the beginning it’s going to take one year and you’ll be back, it would have been easier.”
Making a low-profile comeback at an ITF $25,000 tournament in April, Martic came through two round of qualifying before eventually clinching the title. This was the first of four ITF events she competed in prior to the French Open, reaching the semifinals or better at all of them.
“I was so excited to be out there.” Martic said about her comeback match in April. “To me, it really felt like a Grand Slam, the first time I went to court to play an official match after this injury.”
The second chance
Despite her promising display in the lower-level events, few expected her to shine on the main stage of tennis. In Paris, she reached the main draw after edging past Maryna Zanevska in three tiebreakers during qualifying. Since then she has also defeated Kateryna Bondarenko and Madison Keys. Speaking about her recent run, Martic attributes her success towards her mindset she had during her injury hiatus.
“I was always motivated. I was just afraid that it might not happen because when I got injured”
Calling her return to the tour a ‘second chance,’ the Croat refuses to be surprised about her progression. Last year she had intentions of surging up the rankings before her back prevented her. Her mentality was improving, but her physicality was going in the opposite direction.
“Last year, before I got injured, I felt that my tennis was there. Mentally, I got much better. And I thought, okay, I think my time is coming, and then I got injured.” She recounted.
Celebrating her latest win over Sevastova with a glass of red wine (a tradition Martic always conducts when she wins a match), the qualifier will next play fifth seed Elina Svitolina. Regardless of the outcome, Martic’s run is one of the feel good stories of this year’s tournament.
