After Roland Garros, Podoroska plots her next move

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‘Be bold. Make history.’ The Billie Jean King Cup motto is as much a challenge as it is an opportunity, one that Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska embodied in 2020 as she emerged as one of the breakout stars of the season with her surge from qualifying to the semi-finals at Roland Garros in October.

Before arriving in Paris for her nine-match odyssey, the Argentine 23-year-old was ranked No.131 in the world. When she reached the first round, she was contesting just her second major – four years after her first, at the 2016 US Open. When she reached the final four, she was the first female Roland Garros qualifier to reach the semi-finals in the Open era.

While Podoroska’s breakthrough in Paris cannot be overstated, it had been coming. She began Roland Garros with just four tour-level wins to her name, and none back-to-back; by the time she fell in the semi-finals, she had added another five.

Yet by the time her run was ended by eventual champion Iga Swiatek, she had notched eight match wins in succession including her qualifying results; 14 on the spin if you stretch back to her ITF World Tennis Tour W60 title win in Saint-Malo, and 19 wins in 20 going back to her run to the WTA $125k Prague Open final at the start of September.

As if to underline the point, she ended her season with a quarter-final run in Linz, claiming her first back-to-back tour-level wins on hard courts. It moved her to a career-high ranking of No.47, some jump from No.258 at the start of 2020. She ends the season not only as the top-ranked player from Argentina – next up is world No.275 Paula Ormaechea – but also South America, almost 130 places higher thank Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg.

And Podoroska has no intention of stopping there: “I have a lot of dreams,” she said. “To be No.1 in the world, to lead Argentina to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, to get on the podium at the Olympics, and to win a Grand Slam.”

Argentina are currently on the rise in Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas. After going undefeated in their Americas Group I campaign in February, culminating in a 2-0 play-off win over Colombia, they are set to host Kazakhstan in the Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs in 2021 for the chance to reach the Qualifiers in 2022.

Podoroska went undefeated in Sanitago, Chile, raising her singles win-loss record to 11-1 and claiming her first doubles win the competition since making her debut in 2014 at the age of 17.

“It was still Fed Cup,” she said of that first call-up, to face Russia in a World Group Play-off tie in Sochi. “I was playing in Peru when they called me. It was a dream come true – we shared beautiful things, and I played doubles with Victoria Bosio. It was very exciting. 

“All the ties are special,” she added. “I love to play with the team and to represent Argentina. I keep the memory of the last tie against Chile with Mercedes Paz very much alive. We had a great team and won. I value a lot playing for the team and not just for myself. It is different – there is a group mentality that is outstanding.

“Out next aim is to beat Kazakhstan next year; this is a great challenge for the team. What I wish in the future is to play in the Play-offs and Qualifiers, and to reach the Finals.”

Podoroska was already Tokyo-bound for the Olympics even before the sudden surge up the rankings, having won Pan-American gold for Argentina in Lima back in 2019. She rallied from 4-0 down in the final set to deny USA’s Caroline Dolehide in the final, 2-6 6-3 7-6(4), and claim the regional qualifying berth in the process.

“I’ve watched the Olympics on TV since I was little,” said Podoroska, who wants to follow in the footsteps of compatriot and Olympic silver-medalist Gabriela Sabatini by reaching the podium in 2021. “My mum reads a lot about Greek philosophy and she told me about the significance of being an Olympian, the pride and prestige. It’s the dream of each athlete. And Gaby is always present, always interested in our game. She is an idol, a unique human being and an example.”

What is behind Podoroska’s sudden emergence as Argentina’s top female player? A bit of everything, she admits – working hard and working smart.

“I had to improve my service and return, and I needed to finish points at the net” she admits when asked where she focused her energies during lockdown. “I trained hard in Alicante. That was very helpful because usually we don´t have so much time to prepare. I think that made the difference and had an impact on my results.

“In the match with Elina Svitolina I was able to put into practice that I had learned.”

The match in question, inevitably, takes us back to Roland Garros. Podoroska had never beaten a player inside the top 50 prior to Paris, but by the time she faced the world No.5 she had already knocked out 27th-ranked Yulia Putintseva as well as Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, the former world No.26 who had eliminated both Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka. She met her match against the 5’6” Podoroska in the round of 32, just one highlight from a game-changing fortnight for the Argentine.

“It is difficult to pick one moment,” she admits. “I enjoyed the whole process, I felt more confident day after day. These three weeks were very important, unforgettable – the semi-final against Iga Swiatek was incredible. But I loved the earlier matches too, the qualifying run and even the previous tournaments.”

Life on tour is set to be a little different for Podoroska in 2021. This year she began with a title win at W25 Petit Bourg in Guadeloupe – next year she will be an automatic entrant to a Grand Slam for the first time.

And having grown up as the only kid who played tennis in her part of the city of Rosario, the 23-year-old wants to use her newfound platform to encourage the next cohort of female tennis players.

“I’d love to be a good influence for the new generation of sportswomen,” she said. “I’d love to break the idea of women not having the talent or the same physical attributes to play tennis. It’s not easy to play tennis in Argentina, but I would love to see more women start playing.”

It’s a bold ambition. But having made a little history already, who would bet against Podoroska making a little more?