How is Barbora Krejcikova celebrating her first-round win in New York?
By building LEGOs, of course.
The two-time Grand Slam champion got off to a hot start at the US Open on Monday, defeating 22nd seed Victoria Mboko in straight sets. And with that out of the way, she’s turning her attention to her little plastic toys.
“I passed by the LEGO store,” the World No. 62 said in her on-court interview after her 6-3, 6-2 upset of the 18-year-old Canadian. “There was a huge queue, so I didn’t go inside, but I have a project. Actually my coach has it in his room, and I still didn’t get it.”
Though she didn’t specify exactly what the project is, she mentioned roses, so perhaps it’s this?
The 29-year-old seems to be relishing her time back in New York — where she reached the quarterfinals in 2021 — taking advantage of the incredible restaurant selection and the many ice cream spots scattered across Midtown Manhattan.
“We’re staying close to Times Square,” she added, “so it’s very alive and I’m enjoying it. It’s been good, and I hope I can be here as long as I can.”
She’ll certainly be here a little bit longer after an impressive victory over one of the hottest players on the Hologic WTA Tour. Krejcikova controlled the match from start to finish, mixing slices with heavy groundstrokes to take the recent Montreal champion out of her rhythm. She won 81% of her first-serve points and dropped just five games in an efficient hour and 23 minutes.
Now she gets a couple of days off — ample time to work on her LEGO project — before her second-round match against Moyuka Uchijima on Wednesday. The Japanese 24-year-old, ranked 94th in the world, outlasted Olga Danilovic 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (9) on Sunday in one of the most entertaining matches of the first round. This will be their first career meeting.