Hard work paying off for Pera, but is it enough to upset Swiatek?

MADRID -- OK, tennis aficionados, think you know the game? It’s quiz time. Who put together the two longest Hologic WTA Tour runs on clay a year ago?

Here’s a hint: The first one is ridiculously easy.

“Iga?”

Check.

The second?

In the Mutua Madrid Open player’s lounge Friday, the No.32-ranked woman leaned forward in a white leather chair and, without hesitation, said, “Me?”

“That’s it,” a reporter told her. “You win. And now you have to play her. Sorry about that.”

And with that, Bernarda Pera dissolved into laughter. Sunday, in Manolo Santana Stadium, the 28-year-old American meets World No.1 Iga Swiatek in one of the most high-profile matches of her life.

“Very excited,” Pera said. “It’s going to be a test for me. I’m looking forward to the big court, the crowd. To see where I’m at against the best player.”

In the matrix that is professional tennis, it’s not surprising they’ve played once before, nearly four years ago on the grass in Birmingham. It was the third round of qualifying and Pera was ranked No.93, 28 spots ahead of the Polish 18-year-old. Swiatek won in three sets.

“I think I had three match points,” Pera said.

Pera discussed her burgeoning career Friday after a tidy 6-1, 6-3 victory against Tatjana Maria, a semifinalist last year at Wimbledon. Pera served exceptionally well, facing zero break points and converting four of seven against Maria.

This is a milestone for Pera; it’s the first time she’s been seeded at a WTA Tour 1000 event. This is largely due to a life-altering two-week spell last summer, when she completely changed her profile.

Pera was ranked No.130 when she entered the qualifying draw at the Budapest 250. She won two matches to advance to the main draw, then went 5-0 to take her first WTA-level title. A week later, it happened again in Hamburg. Pera defeated No.2 Anett Kontaveit in the final, giving her 10 consecutive match wins -- all in straight sets. Only Swiatek, with 18 straight wins collected in Stuttgart, Rome, Paris and Warsaw, had more last year.

In a span of 15 days, Pera won a total of 12 matches, $66,000 in prize money and leaped 74 slots up the rankings ladder.

“I started to play well, started to believe in myself,” Pera said. “I had a lot of confidence in my game and just went for my shots. I think I just relaxed a little. I’m getting older, wiser, probably. I would hope so.”

“I’m a late bloomer. But definitely feels like all the hard work is finally paying off.”

She was born in Zadar, Croatia, and lives there today, training in Zagreb. But when Pera was 16, her father, Valter, and mother, Lidija, moved the family to the United States, the country she’s represented for a decade now.

Asked to share something people might now know. Pera said she’s an introvert. She feels fine when she’s in the bubble of playing actual matches. It’s the rest of the profession’s requirements -- including talking to reporters -- she can do without.

Pera, a lefty, is most comfortable on clay.

“I have big swings,” she said. “It gives me time to swing freely. Instead of having to shorten my swings on fast surfaces.”

Her success last year motivated her to work harder and climb further up the rankings.

“I’m really focused on the things that I can improve, even the little things,” Pera said. “Because now I know the little things make a big difference. Like the serve, which isn’t so little.”

How high can she go?

“That’s a tough question,” she said, pausing to think. “Let’s do Top 20 for now and go from there.”