Vondrousova Details 'Crazy' Experience About Buying Out Manager That 'Pushed Her Too Much'

| by Evita Mueller

Marketa Vondrousova worked really hard to get where she is right now, and there were many challenges along the way.

Like many tennis players, Vondrousova did not have an easy journey in tennis. One of the most expensive sports to pursue, the Czech player suffered from the same challenges many players did - lack of finances. She was always pretty good and attracted a fair amount of attention but could not lock down any funding.

She would ultimately get financial support from a man called Vladimir Houdek, who acted as a manager for Vondrousova as well. She was 14 when her parents signed a contract with Houdek, who became her manager after that while also providing the necessary finances for her to pursue tennis, as she revealed when talking to The Guardian.

My parents did sign it because it was a lot of money to put into tennis and they were working so we didn’t have much money for tennis, coaches and stuff. So we had to sign it.

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The catch? A percentage of all her future earnings. At the time it seemed like a good idea and Vondrousova had a good junior career. The transition to the pros was also pretty seamless but the Czech player grew tired of the setup. She wanted to cut ties with Houdek, which meant that they had to buy him out of his contract.

I decided I wanted to end it so I had to buy him [out] for the contract to finish. So it was crazy times. But I think I did a good thing because he pushed me so much about tournaments and everything. So then it was a bit stressful and I couldn’t do what, you know, what I wanted. So I feel like it was a good choice.

It was a good choice for Vondrousova, who has had a really good career since then. The recent Wimbledon win only added to her career and there is plenty to be excited about. Houdek has denied claims that he pushed her to compete too much, calling it blatant lies since they parted ways in 2018.

Ultimately, she did buy him out using all of her career earnings up until that point. She arrived at the 2018 US Open with little to no money but made it to 4th round, earning $266,000.

I had money till the [end of the] season. I played fourth round at the US Open that year. So that helped me a lot. I think if I were to lose [in] the first round, it was going to be very tough. So I didn’t think about it.

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