Aliona Bolsava and Rebeka Masarova will replace Garbiñe Muguruza and Paula Badosa in the Spanish team for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals (Prague, Czech Republic, from November 1 to 6), who resigned to prepare for the WTA Finals (Guadalajara, Mexico, from 10 to 17). They will be under the orders of Anabel Medina along with Sara Sorribes, Carla Suárez and Nuria Parrizas, who traveled this Tuesday. But who are these two tennis players?
Masarova was born to a Slovak father and a Spanish mother 22 years ago in Basel (Switzerland), the city where they also gave birth to Roger Federer. In fact, she is the idol of Rebeka, who competed for her country of origin until she started doing it under the Spanish flag in January 2018. It was after her move to Barcelona that Pipo Maresma trains her. His height (1.86) helps him serve with power and that is his best weapon. In 2016, a year after Badosa did it, she won the junior tournament at Roland Garros, against Anisimova, and three matches at the WTA 250 in Gstaad. He had good prospects, but his projection stagnated and when he arrived in Catalonia, injuries weighed down on him (knee in 2018 and foot in 2019).
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When tennis stopped due to the pandemic, she worked as a caregiver at a neurorehabilitation clinic in Basel, inspired by the family (her parents are a doctor and a nurse, and her sister is studying medicine). “I always wanted to try something like that. The tennis players who are at the top live from the tournaments, but many, even among the top-200, cannot be a couple of months without doing anything, “he said in an interview with Enric Gardiner. 2021 has been his best year, with qualification for the US Open, where she overcame the first round by beating Bogdan in the longest women’s match in the tournament’s history (3h40). He had just won three ITFs and this is his first call-up with Spain.
The case of Bolsava is different, because although she was born in Chisináu (Moldova) almost 24 years ago, she has lived for 21 years in Palafrugell (Girona) and has always competed as a Spaniard. Granddaughter and daughter of athletes from the former Soviet Union (her parents were Olympians in Barcelona 92), she came reluctantly to tennis, but saw Sharapova win Wimbledon (in 2004) and was encouraged. A foot injury fueled his demotivation and left him at the age of 17. He went to study Fashion and Production in the United States, and at Oklahoma State University he played again. Back to Spain, he channeled his career with Lourdes Domínguez and Ana Alcázar. He shone at Roland Garros two years ago, when he reached the last 16 from the previous one. There she was stopped by the aforementioned Anisimova. He loves the arts, plays with shorts and sports several tattoos, one of them, of a lioness. “It is a feminist symbol,” she explained.
Team experience
His career has not quite taken off, but he has experience in the old Federation Cup. In 2015 he won the doubles point against Argentina (0-4) with Medina, now his captain, as a couple. And in 2020 he was in the victory against Japan (3-1) that qualified the team for the Finals. Now, put your shoulder back. He will join when he finishes competing in Courmayeur (Italy), where he plays today against Samsonova.