Beginner’s Guide: Simona Waltert breathes life into Lausanne with breakout run

WATCH: Three years after scoring her first WTA win over a top seed in Lausanne, Waltert repeated the feat against Danielle Collins.

The WTA’s post-Wimbledon clay swing is typically a forgotten part of the calendar, an opportunity for the top players to recharge between a packed European spring and a US Open-centric summer while the lower ranked set scramble for valuable ranking points.

But ignore these unassuming events at your peril: after all, it was three years ago that a young Elena Rybakina captured her first title on the July clay of Bucharest, allowing her to make an early Top 100 debut. She wouldn’t be the first young star to serve notice at this sleepy time of year, and 21-year-old Simona Waltert hopes to be next in line after making her first WTA quarterfinal at the Ladies Open Lausanne.

Get to know the streaking Swiss Miss in the wake of her stunning upset of Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins:

The Basics

While this week’s breakthrough has come on clay, the Chur-born Waltert enjoyed her greatest junior success on grass, reaching the 2017 Wimbledon semifinals with a win over Wang Xinyu before bowing out to runner-up Ann Li.

A Top 10 junior by at the start of 2018, she won four ITF Pro Circuit titles before making her WTA main draw debut in Lausanne the following season. Up against top seed Julia Goerges, she led the former Wimbledon semifinalist in the final set before she retired to hand Waltert her first Top 20 win.

She would bow out of her home tournament in the next round to countrywoman Jil Teichmann, and endure a momentum-halting global pandemic that sent her back to the proverbial minor leagues.

Returning to Lausanne in 2021 as a wildcard, Waltert partnered compatriot Susan Bandecchi to thrill the crowd with a first WTA title in doubles. The run helped her break the Top 200 in doubles but though she would reach the biggest final of her career later that fall—finishing runner-up to Chloe Paquet at an 80K in Poitiers—a similar milestone in singles proved elusive until June when she returned to grass an reached a 100K quarterfinal in Ilkley in between a pair of 60K finals. She won the latter on clay in Amstelveen just last week.

The Latest

All of that ultimately pales in comparison to what Waltert has achieved thus far in Lausanne. Taking on another top seed in Collins, she rallied from a set down to survive the world No. 7 in a final-set tiebreaker, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (6).

“I’m exhausted!” she exclaimed to on-court interview and former Swiss star Timea Bacsinszky.

“In spite of that, I’m very, very grateful that I’ve got the chance to play here. I’m just very happy to play at home. It’s always amazing to be in front of the home crowd.”

“It’s a little tough to play because the ball can fly sometimes so I had to get used to that one, but actually, I just tried to stay focused and do what I can do, control what I can control, and stay calm so I could play point by point.”

“I’m actually speechless, mostly because I’m so tired but I’m so happy that there really are no words.”

I’m actually speechless, mostly because I’m so tired but I’m so happy that there really are no words. Simona Waltert after her first Top 10 win

Three years removed from her first WTA victory, Waltert showed improved mental toughness to back up her win over Collins, posting another three-setter over Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round. Between the WTA and ITF levels, she is on a seven-match winning streak.

“It was a totally different match than yesterday but I just tried to play every point, not to think about everything too much. I think I handled it pretty well at the end; I had some ups and downs, but that’s normal in tennis.”

The famously multilingual Bacsinszky tried to get a few words from Waltert in French, but hailing from a more German-speaking region of Switzerland, the youngster could only muster a “Merci beaucoup!”

Why It Matters

Set to face either Olga Danilovic or Anna Kalinskaya in the quarterfinals, Waltert will continue to enjoy the crowd’s support—regardless of her French fluency—as she aims to join the trio of Swiss women currently ranked inside the Top 100.

With Swiss stars like Bacsinszky and former No. 1 Martina Hingis both retiring from tennis in the last five years, she serves as a potential next generation star in a national field long led by Belinda Bencic.

Waltert is technically quite similar to the 2019 US Open semifinalist, possessing a similar service motion and versatile backhand, but would have been unlikely to showcase this ability were it not for the existence of a tournament like Lausanne. Where Waltert’s story goes from here is to be determined, but good thing for these smaller tournaments for helping hers begin.