Czech teens make presence felt in Australian Open qualifying
If the start of the season is anything to go by, 2023 is going to be another significant year for Czech tennis.
Linda Noskova’s stunning start to 2023 – in which she recorded Top 10 wins over Daria Kasatkina and Ons Jabeur to reach the final as a qualifier in Adelaide – may have hit the buffers following a first round defeat in Australian Open qualifying this week, but a host of richly-talented young Czechs are making their presence felt in Melbourne.
Fifteen-year-old phenom Brenda Fuhvirtova beat Serbian Natalija Stevanovic 6-0 7-6(0), 16-year-old Sara Bejlek thumped Daria Astakhova 6-4 6-0, and 18-year-old Barbora Palicova successfully negotiated Carolina Kul 7-6(0) 6-2 for their maiden Australian Open qualifying wins.
It's the latest step forward for Bejlek, who qualified for a Grand Slam for the first time at last year’s US Open and has been tipped for stardom by 2021 Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova.
“I see big potential. I think Sara has a big future ahead of her,” said the former world No. 2 in August. “She is a really, really good player.”
Bejlek, who faces top seed Alycia Parks next, is joined in round two by the younger of the richly talented Fruhvirtova sisters, Brenda, whom she starred alongside at the 2021 Junior Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Antalya, where the Czechs ended a six-year wait for victory in the ITF’s under-16 team competition.
This 15-year-old is something special 🤩
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 10, 2023
🇨🇿 Brenda Fruhvirtova defeats Stevanovic 6-0 7-6(0) in her Grand Slam qualifying debut.#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/nQ8SdLuglu
Plenty has happened since then. Fruhvirtova's early promise has turned into unprecedented, not to mention age-defying, success on the ITF World Tennis Tour, and a sense that she might be set for a very special future in the sport.
Her highlights of 2022 include becoming the first ever 14-year-old to win ITF World Tennis Tour titles in consecutive weeks, the youngest player in history to collect as many as five ITF singles titles and, by the year’s end, she had collected a Tour-leading eight ITF singles titles and climbed 962 spots in the WTA rankings.
The 15-year-old (named in the ITF’s Class of 2022), faces former junior world No. 2 and 2019 Junior Wimbledon champion Daria Snigur in round two of qualifying for the first Grand Slam of the year.
Meanwhile, former junior world No. 21 Palicova is another young star to emerge on the Czech tennis conveyor belt, having won her first two pro titles – including a significant win at W60 Prerov – on the ITF World Tennis Tour last year.
The world No. 205, who faces Britain’s Jodie Burrage in round two, is one of five Czech teenagers currently ranked inside the WTA’s Top 250, along with Noskova (No. 56), Linda Fruhvirtova (No. 80), Brenda Fruhvirtova (No. 135) and Bejlek (No. 175).