In the game of tennis, nothing should be taken for granted and your next opponent or comrade may bring you defeat or success. Bethanie and Lucie blended for the success part.

She came from a large family back in Rochester, Minnesota of two brothers – Chad and Andrew, a younger sister Alison and of course, her twin sister Sania. By the age of five, her dad Tim, an accountant started enriching her life with tennis when she rallied her interest in this racquet sport. But Bethanie loved all sports and was highly competitive, quite ‘tomboy-like’, giving the Mattek family encouraging hopes of having a tennis personality in the family. She turned pro at 14 and soon after created her niche in thinking ‘out of the box’ with her tennis court attire pushed her way into competitive tennis.

Whereas this little lady at the age of three took a interest in tennis and was encouraged by her family and sister, Veronika to dig into the game, if that’s what she wanted in the Czech Republic. Lucie Safarova was a rather quieter persona than her doubles partner but strong willed and determined to learn this sport well. She decided to ride the trails to being a pro and at 15 took the plunge.

Before Bethanie and Lucie came together in 2015 for doubles, just last year, they ahd other partners with Bethanie pairing with Coco Vandeweghe, Sania Mirza and a feaw others whereas Lufie Safarova partnered with friend and WTA’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. But the history of the other partners wasn’t to be and last year Bethanie and Lucie joined talents and strategies to have immediate success. The 2015 Australian Open doubles title was very significant for it was the first doubles title they’d win together, the first Grand Slam and Lucie’s maiden doubles title. The Mattek-Sands/Safarova duo kept their spark alive and months later won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Doubles title in April in Stuttgart, Germany over the tough Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci legendary team. The following month they became hot on the red clays of The French Open to win their second Grand Slam, after being down a set over the duet of Shredova/Dellacqua. It seems that to win a championship you have to connect personally and professionally and Bethanie and Lucie had that quality. They hit the hardcourt season and out in Montreal won over the Caroline Garcia/Karolina Srebotnik team at The Rogers Cup, where their ATP contemporaries play their matches in Toronto, Canada.

But all of these peaks didn’t come to the ladies without some pits in their career. It was in 2012 that Bethanie started experiencing chronic fatigue, nothing like the usual when working on tour. She was examined and diagnosed as having severe food allergies to 26 items that she loved so dearly but had to give up. Then in 2014, while playing against Madison Keys, she developed a lumbar spine injury and had to retire from the match and tournament; later she endured hip surgery and a fractured left thumb before her successful stint in grabbing a title at The French Open with Lucie. Safarova unfortunately had a few pits of her own as she had an abdominal muscle issue and last year missd the whole of the ‘Asian Swing’ season with a bacterial infection that knocked her out and sent her to the hospital, getting IVs and rest as well as not being able to eat or drink at all.

The pair has had it good this year – 2016 and captured titles at the Miami Open, the US Open and the Asian Swing events of Wuhan Open and Beijing’s China Open. “We have fun on and off the court from the warm-ups to dinners and foot massages. We’re looking forward to comng back” each has said. Lucie is resting up while her partner, Bethanie is playing in the Hong Kong Open, spinning and dicing her way to perhaps a new singles level in China. They have to admit that it was a surprise the casual partnership has gone so long and been quite successful. They will continue their pairing to slice into the few WTA tournaments left, ending this lovely 2016 season on a pleasant and comfortable note!

The post THE SWEET PARTNERSHIP OF BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS AND LUCIE SAFAROVA appeared first on Bethanie Mattek Sands.

Source: CNN

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Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands: Double take 03:39

(CNN)They’re the doubles partners who stormed to twin titles soon after teaming up — and the secret of their success is simple; they enjoy what they do.

Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands triumphed at the Australian Open after joining forces last year.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they swiftly repeated the trick at the French Open, where they begin their title defense against Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson Thursday.

Czech Safarova and American Mattek-Sands have a partnership based as much on friendship and fun as it is on their compatibility as tennis players, the duo told CNN’s Open Court.

Read: “Tennis is one of the cleanest sports,” says Bjorn Borg

Take their first impressions of each other, for example.

“I hadn’t really talked to her, so I didn’t know her personality,” 31-year-old Mattek-Sands says. “And I thought: ‘She kind of looks mean — she’s really focused.'”

“What do you mean, mean?” laughs Safarova.

Read: Andy Murray goes the distance … again

The 29-year-old Czech recalls: “We’d seen each other on the tour for so long, and I’d been watching her and thought: ‘That’s the cool girl.’ She was always wearing these funky dresses.”

Mattek-Sands admits she spent a while mispronouncing her doubles partner’s surname (she found that out when one of the umpires at last year’s Australian Open showed her how it was done) — but by then, the duo had already started sweeping all before them.

Unseeded, they saw off five seeded pairs on their way to the final, where they beat China’s Zheng Jie and Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan in straight sets and became the first new pairing since 2005 to take the women’s doubles title at Melbourne.

Roland Garros clay: A layered cake – with red frosting 02:25

They followed that up in spectacular fashion on the clay of Roland-Garros last June, with Safarova overcoming the disappointment of losing the singles final to Serena Williams as she and Mattek-Sands secured a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win over Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova.

“We came back in France — we were losing — and to turn it around was something special,” Mattek-Sands remembers. “But we were so tired we only had one glass of Champagne each afterwards.”

This January, the pair were unable to defend their Australian title when illness struck Safarova, who developed a bacterial infection that produced arthritic pains and had to spend time in hospital.

“I knew I would recover and the infection would go away, but the arthritis was more difficult because they could not give me a timeframe of when I would come back,” the Czech says, adding that Mattek-Sands had offered constant support throughout her ordeal.

“That was frustrating — but I was always positive and never doubted that I would recover, because I love sports and the only thing I wanted to do was live a normal active life again.

“Now, no matter whether I win or lose, I still have it in mind where I was a few months ago. I’m enjoying the moment. Having fun is the most important thing.”

And enjoyment is at the heart of the matter for both these players as they embark on a bid to retain their crown in the French capital.

“I just hope we continue to have fun and play well — I treasure some of the moments we have had on the court,” Mattek-Sands says.

“I think that, no matter what, we will be friends when we stop playing tennis.”

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