My heart is bleeding ...

... because I love both players!

Donna has always represented excellence on hard courts! A real benchmark for me, I've been a fan since day one! Silver medalist at the Olympics, top 20 again in 2024, then a slow and cruel slide into hell... She seems exhausted all the time, shaky, impatient. A broken game on fast surfaces when that used to be her kingdom! There was a spark at the start of the season in Manila with a final in a 125, but since then it’s been catastrophic. It looks like she’s badly lacking fitness and drive, big time! It makes me sad.

The Czech gem, what can I say… She’s part of that group of new players trained in the Czech school who are wreaking havoc on the ITF/Challenger circuit and coming to shake up the big names! Just look at Bartunkova knocking out Bencic at the AO... Tereza Valentová arrives with the label of the new “killer” on tour, backed by a meteoric rise that recalls that of her illustrious compatriots. The young right-hander generates impressive power and a disconcerting calm for her age, showing no inferiority complex against established names. On the hard courts of Indian Wells, she’ll look to smother Donna right from the start of the rally, relying on a return quality that’s already doing serious damage. She’s a player who never backs down and has that rare ability to find impossible spots at full stretch, turning every defense into a blistering counterattack.

I had the privilege of seeing her final in Osaka at the end of 2025 during my trip to Japan and was able to exchange a few words with her. A wonderful memory!