As Auckland's summer social calendar progresses, global tennis stars have made the most of local cuisine during their visits.
Hot off the heels of the ASB Classic, Polish tennis superstar Magda Linette spent her downtime in the city of sails by scouting out some of Auckland’s top dining hotspots.
A self-confessed foodie, the Polish No 5 seed is known for carefully planning in advance which restaurants she’ll go to when she enters a tournament.
Having already sampled some of Auckland’s best dining spots, and as her run at the ASB Classic continued into the quarterfinals, Linette admitted the planning became harder the more she progressed, and put out a call for recommendations.
On court, Linette booked her place in the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 7-5 2-6 6-3 win over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto in challenging conditions. Reflecting on the match, Linette said specific moments stood out as decisive.
“Definitely, how I started the first set, came back and ended it, and then how I finished the third set,” she said.
“Those three moments I thought, were really the key that I found my game. I really hope that next time I can keep it for longer.”
Away from the court, Linette’s attention quickly turned back to food, admitting she was still undecided about dinner plans after her wins.
“So yesterday, we went to Bossi, I don’t have anything for tonight,” she said, before noting she had already visited Amano twice during the week.
While she is known for planning her dining schedule in advance, Linette said that it only stretches until the matches begin to stack up.
Asked to rank her favourite so far, Linette was clear.
“Well, Amano is number one for now,” she said.
With the ASB Classic marking the beginning of the season, Linette said her focus was less about results and more about translating training work into match situations.
“Well, honestly, my goals right now are really not result-based. It’s more to move whatever I’m doing in practice, to a stressful situation during a match.”
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