WORLD AT HER FEET
French Open finalist (and shoe fanatic) Marketa Vondrousova has the...
There is only one question that leaves the effervescent Marketa Vondrousova struggling for an answer. Which does she prefer, buying shoes or hitting drop shots? ‘hmm… drop shots,’ she decides. ‘But it’s so-so.’ The Czech phenomenon — who only turned 20 on Friday and reached the final of the French Open last month, beating Jo Konta in the semis — is somewhat addicted to both. First, the shoes. Vondrousova has accrued more than 200 pairs over a five-year period in which her powers of footwear acquisition have been exceeded only by her performances on the tennis court. ‘I just love sneakers so much,’ she says. ‘When I was 14 I started buying everything I could get. I see a new pair and I buy them and they just keep coming and coming.’ The wins keep coming and coming too. Vondrousova is ranked 16th in the world, the youngest player in the top 20 and one of only 10 teenagers, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam final this century. She grew up in the small town of Sokolov, two hours’ drive from Prague.‘I started playing when I was four with my dad,’ Vondrousova tells
Sportsmail. ‘When I was 14 I moved to Prague on my own. I was living in the club by myself.’ A joy to watch, Vondrousova must be maddening to face. She credits her unique style of play to coach Jan Fuchs, an early mentor in Sokolov. ‘I had this coach in my hometown when I was 12 and he played like this so I was running all over the court. I was like, “I want to play like this”.’ She is yet to win a match at the All england Club but has a good chance of breaking her duck today against Madison Brengle of the USA. ‘I’ve never won a match there but I loved it ever since I was a kid,’ she says. She is a young woman with plenty to celebrate and £1million from the French Open burning a hole in her pocket. The shoe shops of Wimbledon village had better prepare for an onslaught.