Olivia Gadecki wiped tears away on Monday after embracing her mum Natalia for a second time, about 15 minutes after becoming the first local winner at this year’s Australian Open
It was an emotional moment for Gadecki, who defeated Russian qualifier Polina Kudermetova – sister of top-10 star Veronika Kudermetova – 7-5, 6-1 for her first win in the main draw of a grand slam.
Gadecki’s first Australian Open win was a long time coming, after the 20-year-old sacrificed her chance to play in the 2022 tournament due to not being vaccinated.By then, she had already been ushered into Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup squad, was considered a huge part of the country’s tennis future and boasted a win over 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
“The crowd was amazing today. I feel like in the past I’ve kind of kept to myself a bit. Today, I just wanted to kind of let them in and really embrace the crowd. “My mum has put in a lot of time, sacrifice and dedication into my career, so I’m really happy we can share that moment together,” Gadecki said.
“You can’t describe that – I think you need to live this moment. It’s very hard to describe it. It took a lot of years of dreaming, hard work and believing,” Natalia said.“It’s the beginning, I hope, and we’ll see more of her. She’s a strong girl ... the boys were playing first, and she was always mingling among them and challenging them, and she’s the one still playing – and we’re just supporting.
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