Every few years, without fail, a new group of young players emerges ready to consolidate the Czech Republic’s reputation as one of the dominant nations in women’s tennis. The process is unfolding once more. On Saturday, the 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova reached the fourth round of a grand slam tournament for the first time, defeating Marketa Vondrousova, a former Czech prodigy herself, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to advance.
As both players struggled with physical problems in the final stages of a dramatic encounter, Fruhvirtova sealed victory by playing clear and focused tennis in the decisive moments as she recovered from a break down in the third set.
The victory marks another step forward for one of the most promising young players on the tour. Last year, Fruhvirtova broke through by defeating Victoria Azarenka en route to the fourth round of the Miami Open. After qualifying for her first grand slam main draw at the US Open, she won her first WTA title in Chennai in September. She is now the youngest player inside the top 100.
Czech teens have already marked some of the biggest stories of the season. It began with a surprise run from Fruhvirtova’s junior teammate Linda Noskova, 18, who reached the final in Adelaide from qualifying, beating two top-10 players along the way.
As Noskova fell in the first round of qualifying here, fatigued by her efforts in Adelaide, two other Czech teenagers stole the spotlight by reaching the main draw: the 16-year-old Sara Bejlek and Fruhvirtova’s younger sister, Brenda, who became one of the youngest players to qualify for the main draw of a slam at 15.
While Linda was establishing herself inside the top 100 last year, Brenda built her ranking by tearing through the lower-level ITF events, winning eight $25,000 titles. Now projected to rise to 129th in the rankings, Brenda is progressing at an even quicker rate than her elder sister and it is only a matter of time before she joins her inside the top 100.
In the fourth round, Linda will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic in her first grand slam quarter-final. Earlier, Vekic easily defeated Nuria Párrizas Díaz of Spain 6-2, 6-2.
Aryna Sabalenka reinforced her status as one of the favourites as she tore through Elise Mertens, the 26th seed, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
After suffering from serving problems through much of last season, Sabalenka has served confidently and efficiently as she started the year by winning her 11th career title in Adelaide. She has not dropped a set this year.
