Bernarda Pera’s Wimbledon fortnight lasted just one day; how she must wish the fortnight that followed could last forever.
A week after she came through qualifying in Budapest to win the first tour-level singles title of her career, Pera, a 27-year-old American ranked 81st in the world, defeated top seed Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-4 in the final of the Hamburg European Open to claim her second. She has now won a dozen matches in a row, all without dropping a set.
That the latest of those triumphs came against Kontaveit, who dispatched her in straight sets in the opening round at the All England Club, only underlines the spectacular alteration in Pera’s trajectory over the past two weeks. She left Wimbledon at a low ebb after a fifth successive loss sent her ranking plummeting to 130, her lowest position since October 2017. She will begin the North American hard-court swing at a career-high ranking of 54, and with some talking up her prospects as a dark horse for the US Open after her win over the world No 2.
While that may be stretching a point – Beatriz Haddad Maia compiled an identical unbeaten streak before Wimbledon, only to crash out in the opening round – Pera’s latest victory nonetheless feels like a watershed moment for a player who left her native Croatia at the age of 16 to represent the US.
Four years ago, Pera defeated Johanna Konta in the second round of the Australian Open. It was quite the upset: Konta, the ninth seed, had reached the semi-finals the previous year, and although Pera was handily beaten by Barbora Strycova in the next round, the win marked her out as a player of note.
Pera subsequently found herself cast as an early-round danger woman, capable of troubling the best on her day but unlikely to be around come the business end of tournaments. She often lived up to that billing – a three-set defeat to Serena Williams two years ago in Lexington was a classic example – but Pera has always had the ability to do more. Now she has acquired the belief to express her gifts more consistently.
Against Kontaveit, Pera exuded confidence from the outset. Sharp returning from the American earned her an immediate break, and from there she dominated the opening set behind her tricky southpaw serve, landing more than three in four of her first deliveries and winning 84% of the points when she did so.
Pera’s dominance with ball in hand gave her the freedom to open her shoulders off the ground, and she was increasingly able to impose her big forehand in the baseline exchanges, testing Kontaveit’s rubber-limbed defensive skills to the limit.
The pattern continued into the second set, where Pera established a 5-2 lead before Kontaveit, bidding for the first clay-court title of her career, clawed back a break as her opponent faltered for the first time. Pera held firm, however, serving out to claim her second clay-court title in as many weeks.
“I expected a good fight and I played well,” said Pera. “I was able to dominate the points and able to win.”
Pera afterwards dedicated the victory to her former coach Kristijan Schneider, who died of cancer in April at the age of 41.
“The tennis community lost a coach, a friend [and a] mentor,” said Pera. “I was lucky enough to be coached by him, and I want to dedicate this trophy to him and to his memory. I hope I can bring at least a little bit of his shine and passion and drive into the world.”
In the men’s draw, top seed Carlos Alcaraz saw off Alex Molcan of Slovakia 7-6 (7-2), 6-1. He will face Lorenzo Musetti in the final after the Italian defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).