The future of tennis is in good hands. Linda Noskova swept the former world number one in two sets!

The Czech hope continues her good start to the 2023 season. After her first WTA final appearance and a leap beyond the top 50, Linda Noskova got off on the right foot in the tournament in Lyon, France. She scored a valuable scalp in the first round of the main event. In 74 minutes she saw off former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza.

After the Australian episode, the women’s tennis season moved through the tournament calendar to France and Thailand. In Lyon and Hua Hin, the WTA 250 events kicked off with a trio of Czech tennis players.

Linda Noskova was the first of the Czech women to play on French soil. The 18-year-old rising star started this season in style.

After a tournament of a lifetime in Adelaide and advancing to the final, she jumped up the rankings to just outside the top 50. However, she had to start her journey through the tournament in Lyon in qualifying.

She spent only two hours on court in two matches and made her way to the main draw in sovereign fashion. The fate assigned to her former number one and Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain. Even so, Noskova was the favourite before the match thanks to her good form.

The Vsetin native had a fantastic start to the match, immediately bouncing back into a break. Thanks to virtually flawless play on her serve, she did not allow her opponent a single break point and after twenty-five minutes of play Noskova went into the lead, 6::1.

The start of the second set went better for Muguruza this time. The Spaniard quickly took Noskova’s serve and immediately jumped out to a 3:0 lead. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion soon lost this advantage and the momentum turned to the Czech player again.

Noskova won the decisive break at 4::4, then did not let her serve be taken away for the second time in the match and after 6::1 and 6::4 she moved on.

In the second round she will face the unseeded Egyptian Sherif. Tereza Martincova will also start her performance in Lyon on Tuesday, before her the first round match in Hua Hin will be played by the seeded Linda Fruhvirt.

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