LONDON – What’s the best way to win your first Grand Slam match? There must be no more perfect way than what Jessica Bouzas Maneiro experienced at Wimbledon during Tuesday’s cloudy afternoon in London.
“It’s the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. Now I’m going to love this tournament even more than before,” said the Spaniard who defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court. The defending champion claimed to have experienced terrible nerves.
The new Wimbledon sensation defines herself as a very cheerful girl, very sociable and who rarely fails to express that happiness. “I have my moments, but if you don’t see me smiling it’s a rare thing,” she told CLAY in an interview in Chile at the end of 2022.
Her game is very varied and similar to her personality, as she describes it: “It’s very dynamic, I can do a little bit of everything. I have the facility to change the defense for the attack, make drop shots, go up to the net. Controlling distances, it is similar to that of Carlos Alcaraz because it is showy, because it is based on my cheerful personality off the court”.
She is the owner of a tattoo never seen before in tennis. “SHH” reads on the inside of her left index finger. She got it tattooed a few years ago, thinking about the moment she wins something big so she can make people shut up. Who? “The people who don’t trust you, or think you won’t make it. The ones who try to shut you down and walk out of your life,” she explained to CLAY.
Wasn’t it enough to get the reigning Wimbledon champion down to command silence at the time in her life when the most eyes were on her?
“I’ll wait a little bit so it’s not misconstrued. In the end, it may be a little conflicting and I do not want it to be seen as a gesture of arrogance. It will be when I find my place, when I do something like today but with more continuity. When more people know the real meaning. I know when the time will come,” she said at the press conference.
After beating the Czech, one of the messages Bouzas noticed on social networks was from Garbiñe Muguruza. “I thought it was a fake account,” said the current world No. 83.
The Wimbledon and Australian champion is Bouzas’ big referent. “Yes it’s true that one of the things that makes me most angry is not having been able to train with her or see her up close competing at her best. I’m angry that I didn’t enjoy her”, she explained to CLAY.
She will face her compatriot Cristina Bucsa this Thursday for a place in the third round at The Championships.
