By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 12, 2022
When it comes to women’s tennis, the Czech wave has yet to break, but it is well and swelling as it moves toward the shore.
That trend continued on Friday in Melbourne as 15-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova joined her 17-year-old sister in the main draw by completing her qualifying run (3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4) over Bouzas Maneiro of Spain).
Fruhvirtova was an absolute terror in the ITF circuit last year, winning 50 of 59 matches including all eight finals she played, as she rose from outside of the top 1000 to 130 in the world. She will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the opening round.
The Fruhvirtova’s will be joined by Sara Bejlek, who also qualified, and who is 16. Bejlek reached the Roland-Garros Girls’ Singles semis last year and won the Girls Doubles titles.
It’s a magical time for Czech women, and the aforementioned trio aren’t the only young players set to make an impact on tour in the years to come. Linda Noskova, who reached the final at Adelaide last week, fell in qualifying, but is expected to be a top player.
Five of the 10 highest-ranked players aged 18 or younger on tour just so happen to be Czech. That list also includes Lucie Havlickova and Nikola Bartunkova.
Circling back to the younger Fruhvirtova – she is the fifth-youngest player to ever qualify for the Australian Open’s main draw.
Her sister Linda, who is currently ranked 80 in the world, will face Jamie Fourliss of Australia in the opening round.
Last year, at the US Open, where she reached the second round, the older Fruhvirtova had this to say about her sister.
“I’m so happy for her, she’s crushing the opponents now and I really believe that she’s going to be here next year. Also, she’s really young and she’s really good. She’s working hard and she’s improving and I don’t think the 25Ks are her level anymore and she can definitely play a great level of tennis. She can face tough opponents, so I’m just excited to be with her in these kinds of tournaments in the future.”
Keep an eye on both – and the rest of the Czech contingent – as week one of the Australian Open kicks off.