Linette banks on Chennai ‘memories’ to rediscover mojo

The last time Magda Linette was in Chennai, she was just months away from the best Grand Slam run of her career. After finishing runner-up at the WTA Chennai Open in 2022, she went on to reach her maiden Australian Open semifinals in January 2023.

Now, back in the city amid a challenging season, the Polish player hopes “good memories” will help rediscover her rhythm.

“I feel like I had a little bit worse time recently. And now I started getting my groove back (here), which is great. So yeah, definitely, it helps…brings back good memories,” said Linette after defeating Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 7-6(5), 6-0 to move into the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open on Thursday.

The 34-year-old has suffered seven first-round exits in the past five months. Rather than let the results dictate her approach, Linette chose to stay the course and work through the difficult phase.

“I think it was a combination of things. A couple of (tough) draws, and then you lose a bit of your self-confidence and then you lose from edge points. And then just like that something spirals down.

“It was important to keep working. Basically, you try your best not to panic and not find any excuses, which is not easy because you get a lot of criticism. And, it’s also not easy to go out there and try to work on things and fail and fail again. But I decided this year to go through with it. The ups and downs are necessary in sports,” said Linette.

Through it all, she has had support in her corner, including Polish great Agnieszka Radwanska, who works with her as a consultant for 10-12 weeks a year. And, with her confidence slowly returning, Friday’s quarterfinal clash against Mai Hontama could help Linette script the start of her comeback.