Ana Bogdan Beats Defending Champion Makarova at Citi Open; Exclusive Interview
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
We first interviewed Romania’s Ana Bogdan when she qualified for her first grand slam main draw in New York in 2016.
Times have changed and just off of her career high, she won’t need to qualify for the US Open this year.
And she took out the defending tournament champion tonight, the left-handed, top 30 Kate Makarova, 7-6(2), 6-3.
After the match, Bogdan told me, “When you play against players like her and top players, you have to give your best and maybe even more.” Makarova clawed back after going down early to Bogdan. “At 3-1, she started to put more pressure on me,” she said. “She started to hit the ball more deep and she took three games in a row with that kind of game, and then I realized what was happening, and I said ‘OK, let’s change something’ and maybe I should start putting pressure on her.”
“It worked.”
Later, she spoke with me about her goal to return to the Top 50, her support from Romanian tennis fans (“I really love them. Seriously.”) and her tattoo (in Latin). See, I’ve given you a reason to watch the video.
Bogdan faces Sveta Kuznetsova tomorrow in Washington.
Tennis Atlantic 