Elizabeth Mandlik, 21, maybe didn’t get a big upset win over Paula Badosa in San Jose but she left the tournament high on confidence and belief in herself. Mandlik, the 240th-ranked player in the world, won two qualifying matches to earn a main draw place in San Jose.
In the San Jose first round, Mandlik upset 33rd-ranked Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-3 6-3. After her first WTA Tour main draw victory, Mandlik fell just short of upsetting fourth-ranked Badosa as the Spaniard edged out the American 6-2 5-7 7-6 (5).
Mandlik had a 5-3 lead in the third set, but failed to serve out for the match in the 10th game. “I’ve never really had an opportunity to play with these high-level players and to just be around them,” Mandlik told WTA insider.
“To know that you can be there and be able to actually beat them, you create such a high belief in yourself and that you belong here. The belief was always there, but of course, it’s questionable because I never even had the chance to practice with them.
Now I’m actually playing a match and beating them.”
Mandlik on when she realized her mother was a tennis legend
Mandlik’s mother, Hana Mandlikova, is a former four-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 3. Mandlik still perfectly remembers the times when her mother would take her to the daycare center at Wimbledon.
“It was from a pretty young age because I only had my mom; I don’t have a dad. So she brought me everywhere. So I would go when she would play Legends she’d take me. Then sometimes she wouldn’t take me and I would be crying for the whole week.
So I would say around 10, that’s when I noticed. At the Grand Slams there was a daycare and I was with other kids and they were all talking like, Oh, so who’s your mom? I remember that,” Mandlik recalled.
