Australia: successful day for Czech players, almost all advanced to the second round of qualification, Noskova sad

Last night in Melbourne, Australia, more matches with Czech participation in the qualification for the Australian Open took place. Five of the seven Czech representatives can enjoy advancing to the second qualifying round. However, the finalist of the tournament in Adelaide last week Linda Noskova is experiencing a big disappointment.

Rosol did not advance to the next round

Lukas Rosol (215th) was the first to take the court. The former 26th player in the world rankings has been experiencing a gradual decline in his game and has also been active in ITF tournaments over the past year. Now he wanted to try to beat the 120th player in the world, Francesco Passar, who played against Jiri Lehecek at the Next Gen tournament in Milan.

Rosol’s serve did not go his way throughout the match. In the first set, the Italian used his first break point to bounce back and managed to serve out the set 6:3. But the former Czech player didn’t fold and stole his opponent’s serve twice in the second set – 3:6.

The last deciding set brought a large number of break points on both sides. Passaro took a 3:0 lead, but Rosol managed to close the gap to at least 3:2, but unfortunately he lost his serve the very next time and the 20-year-old Italian calmly finished the match – 6:3.

Francesco Passaro (Italy, 120th) – Lukas Rosol (215th) 6::3, 3::6, 6::3

Palicova celebrated her debut on the Grand Slam with a victory

Barbora Palicova (205th), only 18 years old, had a great success. She made her first appearance in a Grand Slam qualifier and made her big debut in the Grand Slam. One of the hopes of Czech tennis managed to beat the very experienced French Chloé Paquet (162.)

In less than two hours she defeated her opponent 6::4 and 7::6(3). In both sets there were a huge number of break points. The first set was decided in the tenth game, when Palicova worked her way to three set points and managed to turn the third one into a victory – 6::4.

In the second set the situation was very similar. Palic had two match points in the twelfth game. But her opponent turned away these threats and the set had to be decided by a tiebreak. The young Czech dominated it and deservedly won – 7::6(3).

Barbora Palicova (205th) – Chloé Paquet (France, 162nd) 6::4, 7::6(3)

First Grand Slam win for Brenda Fruhvirt

Another player who made her debut among adults at a Grand Slam was only 15-year-old Branda Fruhvirt (135th). She played against the Serbian Natalija Stevanovic (215th) and showed that even at her young age she can easily compare with much more experienced players.

In the first set she literally swept her opponent off the court and gave her a canary – 6::0. The second set was also a straightforward affair for Fruhvirt until 5::2, when she missed four match points and her opponent had six set points.

Fruhvirtova finally managed to take the second set to a shortened game, in which she showed a great performance and won without losing a single ball – 7::6(0).

Natalija Stevanovic (Serbia, 215th) – Brenda Fruhvirt ( 135th) 0::6, 6::7(0)

Third win for Sara Bejlek

The last Czech to make it through her qualifying match was Sara Bejlek (175th) She faced the lower-ranked Russian Daria Astakhova (197th) and did not start the match well at all. She was already down 0::2, but then she worked hard and managed to turn the set around – 6::4.

In the second set it was already a performance from Bejlek. In the first game, the still only 16-year-old player faced two break points, but then she did not give her opponent the slightest chance and, like Fruhvirt, scored a canary – 6: 0.

Darya Astakhova (197th) – Sara Bejlek (175th) 4::6, 0::6

A big disappointment for Noskova

A huge disappointment and shock brought the first qualification match for Linda Noskova (56th). She put in a great performance at the Adelaide tournament last week, where she knocked out the likes of Victoria Azarenka and Ons Jabeur, only to lose in the final to Aryna Sabalenka’s racket.

Moreover, after the tournament she climbed to the 56th place in the WTA rankings and everyone expected her to get a wild card to the main stage of the Australian Open, from where the injured Venus Williams dropped out.

However, the organizers preferred the home 166th player Kimberly Birella and Noskova had to enter the first qualifying round just a few days after the final.

Here, Canadian Katherine Sebova (191st) awaited her and it was clear that Noskova was tired. Moreover, she had groin problems and didn’t move that well. The Canadian decided the first set in the ninth game with a converted break – 4::6.

In the second set, Noskova came back and tied the match, deciding with a break in the second game – 6::3. But unfortunately, the aforementioned groin problems led to the Czech hopeful not being able to hold her serve twice at the end of the third set and losing 4::6.

Linda Noskova (56th) – Katherine Sebova (Canada, 191st) 4::6, 6::3, 4::6

Next program:

In the second round of qualification tomorrow morning, only four Czechs will play. Sara Bejlek will face the number one qualifier Alycia Parks (76th). Brenda Fruhvirtova will face Ukraine’s Daria Snigurova (148th) and Barbora Palicova will face Britain’s Jodie Burrage (128th)

On Monday, we reported that the only male representative in the qualification, Dalibor Svrcina, will take on Argentina’s Nicolas Kicker (201st)

Thetimes are only indicative.

Dalibor Svrcina (219th) – Nicolas Kicker (201st) – 1::30

Barbora Palicova (205th) – Jodie Burrage (128th) – 3::00

Brenda Fruhvirtova (135th) – Daria Snigur (148th) – 4::30

Sara Bejlek (175th) – Alycia Parks (76th) – 6::00

Sources: ATP, WTA, Livesport, Twitter