Kiki Bertens wins Madrid with a sparkling win vs Simona Halep. I remember seeing Bertens for years, she was an introverted player, a journeywoman, who never ever smiled on the court, there was no joy at all for her playing tennis. She just played like she was a machine. Then she played IPTL in Asia three years ago with the team format and she smiled so much there in the team matches that she seemed to make up for the years of her robotic stoicism. I mentioned how I noticed her smiling so much in IPTL to her in Miami a couple of years ago and she smiled again and agreed it was a lot of fun playing with Kyrgios, Melo and Bagdhatis for the Singapore Slammers. I believe the IPTL experience changed Bertens in a small way. Now she's a top WTA player, ranked 4 in the world...
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ITF Grade 4 Coral Gables
