Cristina Bucsa was born 25 years ago in Chisinau, Moldova, but immigrated to Torrelavega with her parents when she was 3 years old. Sitting on a chair in Melbourne, she tells what her philosophy of life is after making the headlines with her first win in Australia (2: 6, 6: 0 and 6: 2 against Eva Lys) and becoming the sixth Spaniard to win makes the top 100 on the WTA circuit. It’s no small merit, far from it, although she’s made her way against the current, far from the modern prototype that’s summed up in contracts, sponsorships, amenities, and an increased presence on social media.
“I only have Facebook but to talk to the girls and meet up to train and play doubles. I don’t see anything in it for me. I don’t like showing photos of myself or personal things,” she says in front of the four journalists who bombard her with questions, expressing herself naturally despite her inexperience. Bucsa, quoted in the second round with Romanian Bianca Andreescu, 2019 US Open champion, says that she only travels with her father Ion, that she has no commercial brands to support her and that she is more philosophical as spiritual.
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“I read about it and how the human mind and body work,” he says. Also about psychology, a career he began studying through UNED, although he later had to give it up because classes coincided with the Grand Slams. Unlike the vast majority of tennis players, she wears a shirt from one brand, pants from another, shoes from a third, and racquet from a fourth. An unimportant detail, he says.
“I like being free, the most beautiful thing is freedom. I don’t need a lot of clothes; with seven shirts, seven trousers and seven skirts, that’s enough for me, because if not, it’s a big expense. If someone comes now, we’ll talk…” adds the 1.75 meter tall Spaniard, hitting the ball with her right foot and making the most of her racquets because she doesn’t break them. “Nor the string, so I’m not changing it. I don’t even know what voltage I’m using because my dad takes care of it,” he continues.
Bucsa speaks four languages - Spanish, Romanian, English and French – and admires Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. And now it’s earned a spot in the top 100, which is by no means losing its sleep. It relativizes the Cantabrian. “Being there doesn’t feel like anything stratospheric to me. If you have to play previous ones, they will be played; When I’m in the draw, fine, but my way of looking at tennis is different from other players’, concludes the tennis player, who defines herself as ‘open’ and has been called up by Spain for the final stages of the Billie Jean Kings Cup , in November last year.
Bucsa, like Aliona Bolsova, also a Moldovan-born Catalan, represents a different way of approaching the day-to-day of her sport. It’s just different today.
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