Jessica Bouzas and a Wimbledon perseverance award that's already feeling like too little: "This isn't enough for me."

She sits down to speak to the Spanish press as if she were made for it. Calm and cordial, approachable and friendly, Jéssica Bouzas (Vilagarcía de Arousa, 22 years old, world number 62—already virtually in the top 40) is in the second week of Wimbledon, qualified for the round of 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time, aware that she has earned it. She defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, breaking her ceiling and her silence after a hard-fought and conscientious path to get here.

“I had a bit of a thorn in my side after the third round; I'd already played a couple of them, and I'm very happy with how I handled the match. It's pure happiness to see that you're moving forward, that we've overcome a barrier we had in mind, that we were really looking forward to,” says the Galician. And she warns: “This isn't enough for me, not at all. In fact, I'm really looking forward to focusing on the next round, wanting more, and that's how it's going to be, continuing along the same lines. What I'm trying to do above all is not to relax, not to stay here. I'm very happy with what I'm doing here, but I don't want to stop there. I want more, and the basis of that is to continue with the same ambition, with the same work, and tomorrow being the same day it was five years ago when we had the day off before the second round. I think you enjoy it once it's over and you see a little bit of everything you've done.”

She'll enjoy it when it's over, and she's working to make it end as soon as possible. Having broken one ceiling, why not think about the next? "More than liberated, I feel motivated. It makes me want to keep going, to believe in myself even more, and to know that this is possible. A fourth round and beyond, which with work is achievable. I finished in third place several times, and in the end, I knew I could do it."

A path of maturity that has been forging ahead for some time. "Above all, my mentality has changed: to come here to do very well, not just to show up and see what happens. Last year, I experienced situations I'd never experienced before, which in the end, you have to go through. It's true that when you come to your first Wimbledon final and play on Center Court against the reigning champion, then a normal first round seems almost the most normal thing in the world."

Now she believes it. Jéssica Bouzas isn't the same person who was content with playing a main draw match at Wimbledon, Roland Garros, or the US Open. Now she's capable of anything she wants: "I'm starting to believe it. Although tennis is a sport that lasts for many weeks, you have to be very stable, and that's where great players come into their own. I want to keep working to reach that level. There may be good weeks, weeks that aren't so good, but my main goal is to find that level at some point."

For the next round, Liudmila Samsonova. "I'm a player who doesn't look at her opponents at all. I know some of them because we've played against each other before or trained together. It's true that I've trained with Samsonova a couple of times now, and obviously you get to know each other a little, but I leave everything in the hands of my coach, Roberto. I try not to look at anything and, in fact, let him tell me a little bit about how it's going to be hours before the match, and that's how I like to work." Bouzas is focusing on Bouzas, and for now, on the Wimbledon Round of 16.