Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Sitdown. I'm viv Christie, Managing
Speaker 1: editor for Australian Tennis magazine.
Speaker 2: And I'm Metrolope, a writer and editor for ozopen dot com.
Speaker 2: And viv why are we sitting down this week with
Speaker 2: Babora Kotchikova.
Speaker 1: Well, Matt, Babora is obviously check and check. Tennis is
Speaker 1: back in the spotlight after Lynda Oskova won Wimbledon, and
Speaker 1: that's a tournament that Barbora also won in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: and she's also back in the spotlight. She's recently won
Speaker 1: a tournament in Athens, She's having great results at other
Speaker 1: tournaments and is charging back up the rankings.
Speaker 2: That's right, Vivin you mentioned twenty twenty four, it was
Speaker 2: kind of eerie you sat down with Barbora on the
Speaker 2: eve of Wimbledon, a tournament that she went on to win,
Speaker 2: and that really cemented her status as one of the
Speaker 2: greats of the game as a multiple major champion. And
Speaker 2: also she's just played in Prague and we've seen that
Speaker 2: WTA tournament last week. More great crowds and just another
Speaker 2: reminder of how popular and enduring the sport of tennis
Speaker 2: is In the Czech Republic, and I guess how Kojikiva
Speaker 2: has made herself one of the greats of the sport
Speaker 2: in that country, and.
Speaker 1: She touches on all those topics and a lot more
Speaker 1: in this interview. Babora, thank you for joining us today
Speaker 1: on the sit down. You're joining us from Wimburedin, where,
Speaker 1: of course there's a great history of Czech champions. How
Speaker 1: does it feel to return to this venue.
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, I really want to thank you
Speaker 3: for having me. It's very it's very nice to be
Speaker 3: part of part of this and I mean being back
Speaker 3: here in a band bladd on we have where we
Speaker 3: have a really huge history of another chech tennis players
Speaker 3: winning or reaching very very far. I mean, it's it's great.
Speaker 3: It's always nice to be here because this tournament is
Speaker 3: very very traditional and.
Speaker 4: I like this.
Speaker 3: I like the history of the tournament, so I'm super
Speaker 3: I'm super excited to be here and and started tournament
Speaker 3: very soon.
Speaker 1: What memories do you have of Wimburden from when you
Speaker 1: were growing up.
Speaker 3: That's an interesting question because when I was growing up,
Speaker 3: it wasn't really that much about wim blood On for me,
Speaker 3: as I mean, I'm not coming really from the family
Speaker 3: that is like a sports family, so it wasn't really
Speaker 3: that much about the tennis. It was more about the
Speaker 3: education in our house. So I guess it was a
Speaker 3: little bit a little bit later. And I mean the
Speaker 3: memory that I remember from Wimbladon is more when I
Speaker 3: was like sixteen seventeen and actually trying to play the juniors,
Speaker 3: the Juniors championship and playing a year on court nineteen
Speaker 3: that is not here anymore, and playing my first round,
Speaker 3: losing the first round, and playing very late in the
Speaker 3: evening and it was already slippery, and I remember I
Speaker 3: was like running to the net and I kind of
Speaker 3: hit the ball, but I fell and I fell on
Speaker 3: my butt. That so that was very so the next day.
Speaker 3: So these are the I mean, these are the this
Speaker 3: is the very first memory that that you know, that
Speaker 3: I can remember of right right now that's connected to
Speaker 3: connected to Vimbladon for me.
Speaker 1: Had you played much cross court tennis before then?
Speaker 3: No, it was actually actually first time he had the Vimveton.
Speaker 3: But the only tournament I played before there was a
Speaker 3: rehabtan And also I think I played there my first
Speaker 3: match and this was my maybe second.
Speaker 1: Can you take our listeners. Back to your start in tennis,
Speaker 1: you said you went from a very sporting family. How
Speaker 1: did you get started in tennis?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: I started, well, I started.
Speaker 3: I started because I have two older brothers, and one
Speaker 3: of them went to play tennis. He went with his
Speaker 3: like schoolmates and friends. And I was little, I was
Speaker 3: like maybe three or four years old then, and me
Speaker 3: and my mom we went with him so my mom
Speaker 3: could look after him. And because I was this small,
Speaker 3: I went. I went with my mom and and I
Speaker 3: got like a like a little board, okay, and I
Speaker 3: was like trying to hit the ball with the board
Speaker 3: like against the wall. So this is I think, I mean,
Speaker 3: this is this is how I studied. But to be honest,
Speaker 3: I don't remember that. That's how I only I only
Speaker 3: have this, uh, this from my my my family telling me.
Speaker 1: And who would you say has been the biggest influence
Speaker 1: in your career?
Speaker 4: Wow? So many people? Definitely not just one.
Speaker 3: I mean starting with my family, with my parents, with
Speaker 3: my brothers, going through my first tennis coach, uh, then
Speaker 3: practicing more in in Borno, in a city that is
Speaker 3: like thirty minutes from the place where my parents lived,
Speaker 3: and then moving to the national that is center later
Speaker 3: on than uh. Having Yao Nas my tennis coach when
Speaker 3: I finished juniors, and then having other other coaches, so
Speaker 3: so many, so many people have been a big, big
Speaker 3: influence in my in my tennis career.
Speaker 1: And in your career. You've had quite an unusual path
Speaker 1: in that you thrived first in doubles, then you had
Speaker 1: your singles breakthrough at Roland Garrals. How did double Did
Speaker 1: doubles provide the foundation for that success?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Well, the doubles definitely helped. It definitely put me on
Speaker 3: the big, big stages before like with somebody, like with
Speaker 3: my partner, So it was a little bit like better
Speaker 3: to to manage to handle and it I think it
Speaker 3: gave me a lot of just like mental mental help
Speaker 3: or support to to be to be able to uh,
Speaker 3: I mean put it into into the singles and to
Speaker 3: feel good when I was playing on a bigger stages.
Speaker 4: But I was there alone when you won.
Speaker 1: Roll and Garols, it was only your fifth Grandsam Mandral.
Speaker 1: Did you surprise yourself at that point?
Speaker 4: Definitely? Yes.
Speaker 3: In Czech Republic, I never I never really felt like
Speaker 3: the player that's gonna that that is that talented and
Speaker 3: that good to to you know, to make it and
Speaker 3: to win, to win a slam, So it was it
Speaker 3: was a big surprise. But also on the other hand,
Speaker 3: I was really really working hard during the during twenty
Speaker 3: twenty during the COVID and really try to improve and
Speaker 3: and finally get to the top one hundred and and
Speaker 3: then in twenty twenty one, everything everything clicked and so
Speaker 3: far this was this was I think my my my
Speaker 3: best best year.
Speaker 4: It was the best year of my career.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it absolutely was your best year of your career.
Speaker 1: Because you also won a gold medal that year, that
Speaker 1: must have been very special as well.
Speaker 3: Definitely, definitely that year was was amazing with all the
Speaker 3: results that I was able to achieve a loan, but
Speaker 3: also I was able to achieve with my with my
Speaker 3: with my doubles partner. So I mean, winning the winning
Speaker 3: the Olympic gold metaphor for Czech Republic was was was
Speaker 3: a huge thing and it was very nice because we
Speaker 3: could really, I mean we could celebrate it in the
Speaker 3: in the Czech house in in in Tokyo, and and
Speaker 3: it was just a different, different feeling and different experience
Speaker 3: to to share this with different athleasts from from different
Speaker 3: sports what does.
Speaker 1: It mean to represent your nation at the Olympics.
Speaker 3: Any I mean, for me, any representation of my country,
Speaker 3: if it's during the Olympics but also during the team
Speaker 3: competition is a huge olor. It's a it's a very
Speaker 3: it's a very big deal. I want to do well
Speaker 3: when I'm playing for my country. And and I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm really I'm really enjoying that because when I mean,
Speaker 3: when I was growing up, I was watching Olympics, I
Speaker 3: was also watching the tennis team competition and be very
Speaker 3: really really successful. So I was hoping that one day
Speaker 3: I can maybe get that far and be part of
Speaker 3: the team. And and I mean, I'm really happy that
Speaker 3: I am, and that also that I can represent during
Speaker 3: during the Olympics.
Speaker 1: There are currently eight check women inside the top one
Speaker 1: hundred in both singles and in doubles. Do you feel
Speaker 1: like a role model to some of the other check players.
Speaker 4: If I feel like that?
Speaker 3: No, But I think it's maybe the question on on
Speaker 3: the on the different different players and maybe more of
Speaker 3: the upcoming generation that are like right now playing playing juniors.
Speaker 1: Are you close as a group on TUA.
Speaker 4: No, not really.
Speaker 3: Now I think it's I think tennis is very very individual,
Speaker 3: and I don't or me personally. I mean, I was
Speaker 3: quite close with my doubles partner, I think, but I
Speaker 3: mean the rest of the rest of the players, I'm
Speaker 3: not really I'm not really that that that close, that
Speaker 3: close with them.
Speaker 1: Is it hard to have close friendships in a sport
Speaker 1: like tennis.
Speaker 3: I think it's just very individual. I think everybody is different.
Speaker 3: And I mean, if somebody likes to have a person
Speaker 3: here that is the best friend, it's fine. If somebody doesn't,
Speaker 3: I think it's fine as well. I mean, it can
Speaker 3: get complicated, but somebody can handle that better somebody somebody
Speaker 3: not so very I think, very very individual.
Speaker 1: Wimbur And last year you came in, you'd reached a
Speaker 1: final long Grass, and then you had to retire here
Speaker 1: in the second round. Does I give you added motivation
Speaker 1: for this year?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean the motivation here is obviously every single year,
Speaker 3: very very high. And I really want to do well
Speaker 3: during the during this Sert event, and I mean also
Speaker 3: any other tournament.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: And I mean, but I'm not really like setting like
Speaker 3: really like high high goals because also this year I
Speaker 3: was quite quite injured and ill, and it wasn't so
Speaker 3: far besides the Austrian Open a good season. So I
Speaker 3: just want to get the first win and I'm gonna
Speaker 3: go from there and see how far I can I
Speaker 3: can go.
Speaker 1: And you did start your year by reaching the quarterfinals
Speaker 1: at the Australian Open. What does that tournament mean for you?
Speaker 4: Well, I'm in. For me, Australia is very special.
Speaker 3: I mean since a junior, I was you know, this
Speaker 3: is the country that is the that is the most
Speaker 3: far from from us from in Europe, and I always
Speaker 3: wanted to visit and I was always hoping that I
Speaker 3: can get there, and then during juniors I was able
Speaker 3: to fly there. I mean the flight is not very nice,
Speaker 3: but I mean the country is amazing. I really liked
Speaker 3: Melbourne as a junior and I was hoping that one
Speaker 3: day in a pro I'll be able to come back.
Speaker 3: And I mean it's great that I'm coming back. It's
Speaker 3: great that I was able to reach the quarters in
Speaker 3: singles this year. So far, I think it's the I
Speaker 3: think it's the best best result and I'm really proud
Speaker 3: about this result. And also I I with Katkab won
Speaker 3: doubles there twice in in a row and and also
Speaker 3: with uh some other like mixed doubles player or with
Speaker 3: with the men's players. I want three times in the
Speaker 3: row mixed doubles. So for me to be honest, I
Speaker 3: have the most trophies from Australia. So it's it's it's
Speaker 3: it's a very very special place for me.
Speaker 4: Where are the those trophies?
Speaker 1: Where do you keep them?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 3: I have them so far right now, I have them
Speaker 3: in my in my parents' house. But when I'm going
Speaker 3: to get to the point when I get my own house,
Speaker 3: They're going to be in my own house.
Speaker 1: And just to finish up. When you look back at
Speaker 1: your starting tennis, what advice would you give to your
Speaker 1: younger self, Uh, what I would say?
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 3: I mean for me, like when I was growing up,
Speaker 3: I think I had everything that I needed. Like back then,
Speaker 3: I wouldn't change your thing. And for me, the most
Speaker 3: important thing was to enjoy and not to be really
Speaker 3: like pushed, to have the freedom to decide what I
Speaker 3: want to do, what I don't want to do. And
Speaker 3: I think I was able. I got that, I was
Speaker 3: able to do that. So for me, I think this
Speaker 3: is the most important. But it's individually for me, I
Speaker 3: think for a group of upcoming players, I think it's
Speaker 3: important to have fun, to enjoy the tennis, to be happy,
Speaker 3: to go for the practices, to be happy to spend
Speaker 3: the time around the court, and I think to be
Speaker 3: dedicated to work hard and to I mean dream big
Speaker 3: and go for it.
Speaker 1: Well, Matt, it was amazing to listen to that interview
Speaker 1: again with the benefit of hindsight. I was reminded of
Speaker 1: lots of things, but especially how Babora had this lovely
Speaker 1: humility about her, even though she'd already won a Grand
Speaker 1: Slam title, which had surprised her. Needless to say, I
Speaker 1: was very invested in her Wimbledon campaign that.
Speaker 2: Year, absolutely, And also you talk about that humility, I
Speaker 2: mean even listening to her expectations. When you chatted to
Speaker 2: her before Wimbledon and you asked her what her goals were,
Speaker 2: it was about just winning the first round hopefully and
Speaker 2: getting into the tournament from there. And it's quite amazing
Speaker 2: to hear a major champion say that who's kind of
Speaker 2: gone the whole way before. Her expectations were quite low,
Speaker 2: but yeah, amazing to see what she went on to
Speaker 2: do after you chatted to her, and it was really
Speaker 2: cool to revisit that this week.
Speaker 1: And we'll be back next week with another episode of
Speaker 1: The sit Down. Please remember to subscribe so you never
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Speaker 1: see them you've