Back in the spring, Rebecca Sramkova (28) was a relatively unknown player who never made it into the elite 100 of the rankings. But in the last few weeks, the Slovak player’s name has registered with almost everyone. In the autumn, she rocketed up the rankings, made Slovak tennis history and almost led them to triumph in the Billie Jean King Cup.

Astonishingly, she has done all of this without vision in one of her eyes.

“I can’t say what it’s like to see as a healthy person. I used to play with contact lenses, but it wasn’t the same,” Sramkova confided about her disability in the spring. She has been blind in one eye since childhood.

In addition, in recent years she had a complicated relationship with her father Jozef, with whom she had such a fight that they were not in contact for a long time.

Nevertheless, after years of effort, she managed to break through among the elite around her 28th birthday, which she celebrated in mid-October.

During the best period of her career so far, she also made Slovak tennis history when she became the first Slovak champion on the WTA circuit in six years and took Slovakia to only its second final in the Billie Jean King Cup.

But let’s take her tremendous progression one step at a time.

May’s breakthrough into the elite 100

Some tennis fans probably registered Sramkova last summer. At a smaller event in Warsaw, she challenged Karolina Muchova, who threw away a luxurious 5-1 lead in the final set and four match points in the quarter-final.

But the tennis world in general probably paid more attention this spring, when she went from qualification to the top 16 in Rome in May. This saw her secure her maiden move into the top 100 rankings, which was only ended by Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16. And that was only after a hard-fought tie-break victory in the deciding set.

The Slovak player had been waiting for another significant success for several months. Until a phenomenal autumn run…

A wake-up call in the form of an unexpected defeat

The ever-lasting season of her life took off after the US Open. The final Grand Slam of the season ended in a huge disappointment for Sramkova as she was defeated in the second round of qualifying. There she was the clear favourite against the then world number 834 Usue Maitane Arconada.

Some Slovak tennis fans may have written off the Bratislava native at that moment, but they were sorely mistaken. She crossed the threshold of the quarter-finals of the main tour for the first time in her career in the first half of September and finally made it to the final in Monastir, Tunisia.

Immediately after the final, she headed to Hua Hin, Thailand, where she became the first Slovak champion on the WTA circuit since Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Bogota in 2018.

Just a day after her lifetime triumph, she entered the Chinese 1,000 qualifying in Beijing and made it through to the third round. In the span of 20 days, she had played 15 matches with a 13-2 record, across three countries and two continents.

She then took a well-deserved month-long break. After that, she returned with a first-round defeat, but a week later at another Chinese event, she recorded her third final in less than two months.

Falling just short

Unsurprisingly, Sramkova, in the form of her life, was the mainstay of the Slovak team at the just concluded Billie Jean King Cup finals. Scalping Grand Slam finalist and world number 11 Danielle Collins, demolishing Ajla Tomljanovic as well as a hard-fought victory over Katie Boulter.

These valuable victories helped Slovakia to its second-ever final in this prestigious team competition. However, the they failed to follow up their 2002 triumph. Samkova did not get a point this time as she lost to the fourth-ranked tennis player Jasmine Paolini.

In any case, Slovakia left a great impression in Malaga, Spain. On their way to the finals, the Slovaks had to deal with the Americans, who are the most successful in the history of the BJK Cup (formerly Fed Cup), the Australians and the British.

Sramkova may not have been a star in Slovakia until recently, but now fans there are eager to see what she will do next season. She is currently ranked 43rd in the WTA rankings and is the only Slovak representative in the top 50.

Complete BJK Cup singles results