Tereza Valentova wasn’t sure if she was going to play the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The Czech teenager, who played the final at the L’Open 35 de Saint Malo WTA 125 event in France on Sunday, only arrived in Rome at 9:00 p.m. local time Tuesday ahead of her Wednesday first-round match against Yulia Putintseva, her debut at the event.
Why the late arrival? Well, the World No. 48 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz had to pit stop Monday in her native Prague, Czechia, to complete an academic exam for her high school graduation.
“It was a little bit chaotic because I arrived at 9 p.m. yesterday, so I was doing exams [for graduation],” Valentova said to press Wednesday.
“I didn’t plan to play this tournament because — we didn’t know. I was like ‘[I have] nothing to lose, just I’m going to play and enjoy that I get to here and play a match.'”
Even on short preparations, Valentova fulfilled the task against Putintseva, earning a 6-3, 6-2 win over the Kazakh to avenge her Mutua Madrid Open first round loss a couple weeks ago to Putintseva. She’s primed for a second-round showdown with Coco Gauff on Thursday in their first meeting since Gauff defeated Valentova in the second round of Roland Garros last year en route to her second Grand Slam title.
“I’m excited and I think I can just play with open mind and enjoy the match because, how I said, I’m not even that prepared, but I’m looking forward to it and I’ll do 100% to play on my side,” Valentova said. “It’s going to be also revenge.
“It’s a different level to play revenge against Grand Slam champion. For me I have nothing to lose. I can play and I can see where my game has developed, what I can do better next time.”
As Valentova has ascended into the top 50 in the PIF WTA Rankings, she’s been juggling academia with the demands of a professional tennis player. She’s studying to receive her diploma from Czech secondary school, and has to complete a series of three exams ranging from Czech literature, English and economics. Often, she’ll hit the practice court before hitting the textbooks as part of her daily routine.
“It’s so difficult,” Valentova said, laughing. “I don’t have free time to just stop and lay in bed and watch videos. When I have free time, I need to study. I need to do it because when I do it, then I can lay in the bed and do nothing. For now, I need to study as much as I can and be ready for the exams.”
She’s passed two of the three, with the most recent occurring on Monday, and it’s safe to say once she passes the third, she won’t be reading textbooks for a while. Upon completion, Valentova plans to solely focus on tennis and would consider university studies later on in her life if necessary.
Her next exam won’t involve one of the 20 Czech books she’s had to read. Rather, she’ll be tasked with another chance to the solve the equation of defeating Gauff, the 2025 Rome finalist and defending Roland Garros champion.
Compared to a year ago, Valentova said she feels more confident and that her mindset has evolved with the rising pressure that comes as her ranking has improved — Valentova was ranked outside the top 175 this time last season. She enjoys the variety to her game, being aggressive from the baseline and at the net, but incorporating a diverse shot selection from slices, top spin balls and drop shots.
“Now it’s like more pressure than last year,” Valentova said. “But the pressure is — how they say — a privilege because the pressure’s going [up] when you’re successful so that means you’re doing something good so the pressures come.”
“I have so many things to be better at.”
Last season, Valentova told wtatennis.com that she didn’t feel overmatched vs. Gauff depsite the defeat, but now she’ll get a second chance to stack up against one of the WTA Tour’s top players. They’ll be third on Campo Centrale following Jasmine Paolini’s match against Leolia Jeanjean. As for Valentova’s stress levels, she isn’t too anxious about the match, but the exams outweigh the stress of tennis.
“It’s different stress,” Valentova laughed. “The match I’m also stressed but I’m used to it more than the school stress. Cannot compare I think.”
