All-Czech pair Bouzkova, Noskova conquer Cincinnati doubles for first title together
CINCINNATI -- It was an all-Czech duo hosting the Cincinnati Open doubles trophies Saturday as Linda Noskova and Marie Bouzkova defeated Magali Kempen and Alexandra Panova 6-1, 6-2 to capture their first title together.
"You always see this iconic pictures from whoever won Cincy and now we get to own one so it's pretty special," Bouzkova said to press on lifting the trophies.
The two well-renowned singles players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz navigated through the doubles draw as Bouzkova picked up her seventh WTA doubles title and Noskova earned her second. For Noskova, the Wimbledon champion's previous doubles title came in Berlin, where she also won the singles title.
"It was a great day, great match today, I feel the best out of all of them," Noskova said. "We felt great on court so we just kept the games going."
"It's gorgeous," Noskova added on the trophy. "I feel it's one of the most praised trophies that there is so just to have the original size and the colors are so beautiful."
From the start, Bouzkova and Noskova put the pressure on their opponents, scoring an early break in both sets. In total, the pair finished with five and won by a double break in both sets. Throughout the tournament, they won all their matches in straight sets aside from one.
"We split a lot of areas of the game between each other," Bouzkova said. "Linda, with all the power she has, and I feel [Linda has] been improving on the volley every day. It was great to see that and for me, I just tried to cover whatever I can cover and also be active, and I felt we just found a good balance."
Bouzkova and Noskova have played several tournaments together before, but with coming from the same country, they've known each other for a while despite the seven-year age difference. Bouzkova couldn't even recall when she first became of Noskova, while Noskova said she has known Bouzkova from Billie Jean King Cup and national team participation.
"I don't even know, it feels like we've known each other four ten years and you like 10 years old," Bouzkova laughed.
In addition to doubles, both have been successful in singles, adding the long list of talent from Czechia. Noskova has won singles titles at Wimbledon and Berlin this season while Bouzkova lifted trophies at Bogota and Nottingham.
Often, when Czech players are asked why the country produces such talent, each player doesn't have a specific answer. Neither player pinpointed to a single reason today, though Bouzkova reflected on the sport's popularity.
"I feel tennis, especially for a woman, it's the biggest sport in Czechia. It gets a lot of attention. Every little girl I feel wants to try at least to play tennis so maybe that's what it is," Bouzkova said. "We have a great base in Czechia to practice and the healthy competition between one another is probably some factor also."
The pair will switch back to different partners for the upcoming US Open, with Noskova playing alongside Rebecca Sramkova while Bouzkova competes with Sara Sorribes Tormo.
