Mia Pohankova vs Renata Jamrichova: Bratislava Final Analysis (ITF W75)
Future gazing in Slovakia as 15-year-old Pohankova and 17-year-old Jamrichova battled for the title
Mia Pohankova (WTA #961) recovered from a set down to defeat fellow Slovak Renata Jamrichova (WTA #472) in the all-teenager Bratislava final and claim the title in just her third appearance on the pro circuit.
Pohankova made her professional debut in last year’s edition of the $60,000 J&T Banka Slovak Open, reaching the quarter-finals as a qualifier. One year on, she returned to the ITF Tour with another quarter-final at W15 Trnava, a week before romping through the Bratislava field with four consecutive Top-250 wins, including upsets over 4th-seed Anastasia Zakharova and top-seed Oceane Dodin.
Pohankova’s path to the final
Valentina Ryser (WTA #235) → 6-4 7-5, round 1
Anastasia Zakharova (WTA #153) → 6-3 6-3, round 2
Elena Pridankina (WTA #186) → 6-3 6-4, quarter-final
Oceane Dodin (WTA #91) → 6-3 2-6 6-1, semi-final
Likewise, Jamrichova earned her place in the final by taking out a couple of pre-tournament favourites, 7th-seed Julia Avdeeva (WTA #200) in round 2 and 5th-seed Antonia Ruzic (WTA #163) in the semis.
Heading into the championship match, Jamrichova was the more experienced and accomplished player:
a former world #1 and reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, at junior level.
holder of 2 ITF W15 titles and already with 2 appearances for Slovakia at the Billie Jean King Cup (both wins, including one over Nadia Podoroska), at the pro level.
The experience gap certainly showed in the early stages of the final as Jamrichova jumped to a 5-1 lead, making the most of Pohankova’s nervous start that translated into a low percentage of 1st serves made (45%), 10 backhand unforced errors and a low success-rate with drop shots (3-for-7, 43%) during the opening set.
Looking for a way to raise her play, Pohankova started the second frame with a series of net attacks (ended 9-for-12 at the net, in set 2). As she settled, her crosscourt backhand began to work.
If Pohankova was holding serve through improved rallying success, Jamrichova was serving big. She finished the set with 12 winning serves across 5 games. Despite such serving performance, the older finalist couldn’t avoid losing serve at 4-4 in what turned out to be the only break of the second set.
At 1-1 in the decider, Jamrichova fell into a 0/40 hole after a double fault and 2 “serve+1” unforced errors. Unable to hit through Pohankova, as the video below evidences, she surrendered serve with her third forehand error of the game, after being pulled wide by a crosscourt backhand.
📺 source: ITF Tour live stream
By now, Pohankova was efficient when dictating and showing great court coverage when defending (video #2). As a result, Jamrichova accumulated a few too many unforced errors - 16 in total, during the final set.
Jamrichova still had a couple of chances to break back, one in the 4th game and another in the 6th. But the first break point was neutralized by a Pohankova forehand winner and the second wasted with a forehand error.
Minutes later, Pohankova secured a double-break lead by forcing a volley miss. With that cushion, she showed no nerves when serving for the title. The 15-year-old closed the match with 3 aces and an emphatic love hold, for her first career trophy.
1. Attacking the forehand corner
Both players targeted the opponent’s forehand corner in a large portion of their winning shots.