The Australian Window: Three Czechs are one step away from the main stage of the Australian Open, Bejlek beats No. 1 qualifier

Qualification for the Australian Open in Melbourne is slowly but surely coming to an end and three Czechs have advanced to the final round. Dalibor Svrcina succeeded among the men, while Brenda Fruhvirtova and Sara Bejlek, who took on Alycia Parks, will fight it out among the women.

At the beginning, seven representatives of Czech tennis started the qualification. In the end, only three were left, who will fight tomorrow morning to qualify for the main stage of the Australian Open.

Palicova is out

Eighteen-year-old Barbora Palicova was unfortunately the only one who failed to succeed in the second qualifying round. Her opponent, British Judie Burrage (128th), defeated the Czech in less than an hour of play. Palicova’s serve was not very good throughout the match and she offered the British player a lot of break points.

Burrageova set the pace of the match from the beginning and took Palicova’s first serve of the match. The British player was playing very aggressive and it was paying off. In the first set she took the young Czech’s serve twice more and won the first set – 6-1.

The second set didn’t bring much drama. Palicova again failed to catch her first serve and lost it once more in the eighth game. The British player was able to celebrate her advancement to the final round.

Svrcina escaped the undertaker’s shovel

The match between Dalibor Svrcina (219th) and Argentina’s Nicolas Kicker (201st) was far more dramatic. The debutant among adults at the Australian Open was the worse player at the beginning of the match.

He lost his serve three times in the first set and deservedly lost the opening set – 2-6. However, Svrcina once again showed that he is a great fighter and a versatile player. In the second set he even took a 4-2 lead. But it was not enough, the Argentine fought back and turned away three set points at the end of the second set to 1-1.

The game eventually reached a tiebreak. Kicker won two match points. It didn’t look good with Svrcina but he managed to escape the grave digger from the shovel each time and finally beat the Argentine in a huge battle – 7-6(8).

In the last deciding set the Czech youngster took a quick 2-0 lead. This was probably too much for the Argentine, he started to cramp up and was forced to abandon the match. The 20-year-old Svrcina celebrates his first qualification to the Grand Slam final.

Brenda Fruhvirt was close to being eliminated

If anyone watched and cheered a lot for the Czech representatives in the qualification, they must have experienced heart attack moments. Brenda Fruhvirtova (135th) had to start an incredible turnaround in her match against Ukraine’s Daria Snigur (148th).

Fruhvirt has been very brave in her adult debut so far. She lost the first set 5-7 and was already down 1-5 in the second set.

However, with a focused performance she managed to level the match at 5-5 and then took her opponent’s serve again to turn the score to 6-5!

But even that was not enough, Snigur took back her serve and the game had to be decided in a tiebreak. Fifteen-year-old Fruhvirt was much more successful in that set and she finally took the second set after an incredible turnaround – 7-6(3).

In the third set, the younger sister had to tighten up twice again when she lost her serve. Her opponent, however, broke down and Fruhvirtova was able to celebrate in the ninth game of the third set to advance to the final qualifying round.

Bejlek knocked out the number one qualifier

And finally, a big scalp for 16-year-old Sara Bejlek (175). She took on the top seeded qualifier, American Alycia Parks (76th).

The American had a great streak of 11 matches without defeat going into this match and was thus the favourite for this encounter. In the first set, the game was switched from one side to the other. Bejlek was already up 5-3 and serving for the win.

But Parks showed strong nerves and eventually turned the whole set in her favor to the final 7-5. But Bejlek, a Grand Slam qualifier, did not lay down her arms and clearly showed in the second set that she is another great talent of Czech tennis.

Bejlek was already down 4-2 but she managed to break her opponent’s serve twice in a row and finally ended the set 4-6 after a fight . In the third game she immediately converted one of two break points and quickly took the lead.

Then Parks tightened her grip on the match, but Bejlek took back the lost serve immediately and converted the first break point in the seventh game to finish the match 2-6.

Final qualifying round schedule:

The last step is usually the most difficult and it is also the case for the Czech representatives. Dalibor Svrcina will face a Swiss tennis hope, 20-year-old Leandro Riedi (135th), who is experiencing a big rise in the rankings and played the final of the Challenger in Canberra before the qualification round.

Sara Bejlek will face Russia’s Erika Andreeva (137th), two years older than her, in the last round of qualifying. Brenda Fruhvirt will take on Spanish all-rounder Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (183rd)

Both Czechs will enter the match as favourites and have a great chance to advance to the next round. Match times are approximate.

Dalibor Svrcina (219th) – Leandro Riedi (135th) – 1::30

Brenda Fruhvirt (135th) – Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (183rd) – 3::00

Sara Bejlek (175th) – Erika Andreeva (137th) – 4::30

Sources: Australian Open, Twitter