How Rebecca Sramkova became a winning machine in September

BEIJING — Rebecca Sramkova barely had time to let her first Hologic WTA Tour title sink in when she jumped into a car for the three-hour drive from Hua Hin to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. The 27-year-old Slovakian had already endured a lightning-quick turnaround a week earlier, when she made her first WTA final in Monastir, Tunisia and raced to make it to Thailand in time for her first-round match.

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

“We had just one hour to take a shower and pack our stuff,” Sramkova told WTA Insider at this week’s China Open. “We played at a resort so that was the easier one.

“But in Hua Hin we took our stuff to the club and we had just three hours to get to Bangkok form Hua Hin and then take a flight [to Beijing].”

Sramkova landed in the Chinese capital at 7:00 a.m. on Monday and was back on the court hours later for her first-round qualifying match at the China Open. To make it in time, Sramkova squeezed into an economy seat for the direct flight.

“After two weeks, two finals, an economy flight is not ideal,” Sramkova laughed.

“We left our bags in the room, we took a sip of coffee, and we went to the courts.”

All that hassle has paid off mightily. Sramkova rode her confident form into the Beijing main draw, where she knocked out Anhelina Kalinina and 22nd-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova to make the third round. She’s on a nine-match win-streak now (including qualifying) and has won 13 of her last 14 matches.

“In Monastir I had a lot of close matches and I was losing the first set,” Sramkova said. “My coach told me to just play every point. If you lose a point it’s behind you and play the next one as a new one. It’s the hardest thing to do.

“I just keep this one thing in my mind: every ball can change the match.”

Sramkova admits she hasn’t had much time to think about her remarkable intercontinental journey over the last three weeks, which have been the best stretch of her career. She had never been ranked inside the Top 100 before this year, but she’s now knocking on the door of the Top 50. She’ll face former World No.2 Paula Badosa in the third round on Sunday.

“I’m so tired,” Sramkova said, “but I saw some posts that people call me the Duracell Bunny. That was so funny. Living this life is what we are practicing for our whole life.”

“The physios here are incredible. They are helping me so much, so much after every match. They are heroes to me.”

After being wrecked by injuries for most of her career, Sramkova credits finally being healthy for part of her 2024 rise. She also says her innate self-belief kept her hopeful even when the results weren’t coming earlier in her career.

Asked what she was most proud of over the last three weeks, Sramkova said she would take the consistency over her maiden title. Many players can get hot and win a title. Only the best can put themselves into championship weekends on a regular basis.

The greatest benefit from her surge up the rankings is how much easier her scheduling will be in 2025. Sramkova had to play the qualifying tournament at 10 tournaments this season, including three of the four Grand Slams and five WTA 1000s. That won’t be an issue next year.

“That’s the key, I can choose the tournaments that I want to play,” she said. “We don’t have to wait to see if I get directly into tournaments. If you don’t know, you have to change your calendar.”

Sramkova is putting every last ounce of energy into her Beijing campaign. If she can get past Badosa, she will put herself into her second WTA 1000 Round of 16 this season. She also came through qualifying to make the Round of 16 in Rome. If not, she’ll go back to Slovakia for some much-needed rest.

“We wanted to play Wuhan and others but we need a rest for one or two weeks,” she said, “and then I will come back to China to play Guangzhou and Jiangxi and then I have to play Billie Jean King Cup.

“After those qualifying matches in Beijing, the physios said, ‘You deserve a statue in this room.'”