WIMBLEDON, England—Bethanie Mattek-Sands is gaining confidence from her doubles success, making a run in singles at Wimbledon by qualifying for the tournament and upsetting Ana Ivanovic to reach the third round.
Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova won the Australian Open and the French Open in doubles this year. Mattek-Sands is ranked No. 6 in doubles and No. 158 in singles.
"You know what, it's a lot of matches and a lot of confidence. I mean, we have beaten a lot of players, me and Lucie this year in the doubles," she said. "I have always gained confidence from playing doubles. I think some players actually do like to play because, you know, it's almost better than a practice, anyways. You get those game points, holding, breaking and all the pressure situations. I get a lot of confidence from my [doubles]."
Mattek-Sands was sidelined for much of the previous season with a hip injury. She did not win a main-draw match on clay this season, but has won six matches in a row at Wimbledon, defeating seventh-seeded Ivanovic in straight sets.
The grass surface suits her game. "I was playing aggressive. I was going to throw in slices and throw in some serve and volleys, and really play aggressive and work my way to the net," she said. "That's grass court tennis, but that's how I play on all the surfaces."
The 30-year-old is happy to be physically fit again. "Feeling healthy is a big part of that. I did struggle with that hip for even after," she said. "My first surgery in 2008 there were issues for four years, and I think a lot of my other injuries kind of were related to that. So it does feel really good to feel healthy and feel good out there."
Mattek-Sands plays Belina Bencic in the third round.