The qualification for this year’s first Grand Slam did not start well for the Czech female tennis players. So far, only two of our five players have advanced to the Australian Open. Debutant Nikola Bartůňková (19) beat the Frenchwoman Selena Janicijevičová and Linda Fruhvirtová (20) turned the duel against the German Anna-Lena Friedsamová. On the contrary, Laura Samson (17), Barbora Palicová (21) and Gabriela Knutsonová (28) did not even play a set.
Janicijevičová – Bartůňková 3:6, 3:6
Bartůňková is playing her first Grand Slam among adults in Australia and celebrated the win on the first try. The 16 seeded team easily won the duel with the French Janicijevich in 76 minutes, confirmed the role of the favorite and got closer to the main competition.
A single break from the fourth game was enough for the Czech player to win the first set, and she subsequently maintained her lead. She continued her great game at the beginning of the second set and again took her opponent’s serve. This time, however, she hesitated on the serve herself and let the French equalize. But she did not allow more significant complications.
She won four of the last five games of the match and celebrated her first win in her Grand Slam debut. Her opponent in the second round will be domestic wild card and world number 328 Tina Smith.
Samson – Sonmezová 2:6, 2:6
Samson’s debut at the adult Grand Slams definitely did not go as well as she would have imagined. The Czech teenager faced a very difficult opponent in the first round of the Australian Open qualification and stayed on the court for only an hour and a quarter.
Against the fifth seed Zeynap Sonmez in the opening set, she only held serve in the first of four games, and even in that she had to fend off two break points from her opponent. She was able to use her only chance to receive in the fourth game and tied it. However, the following four games already belonged to the player from Turkey.
Match statistics. (@ Livesport / Enetpulse)Even in the second set, Samson had trouble holding her serve, losing it three times in a row and quickly losing 1:5. After reducing the difference to three games, she could no longer resist her opponent and she finished the match with a clean game. In the second round, she will face Julia Riera from Argentina.
Stephensová – Palicová 1:6, 5:7
Palicová started in the qualification in Melbourne for the third time, but for the first time she finished right at the start. The Czech was not enough for former world No. 3 and Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens, who broke a streak of 13 defeats in a row and is celebrating her first win since Wimbledon 2024.
The Czech player was only able to resist the 2017 US Open winner in the second set. In the first one, she played only one game when she deleted a total of five set points at 0:5 and 0:40 and turned away the canary at the last moment.
In the second act, Palicová even took a 4:1 lead after a break, and in the ninth game she had a chance to add to the set. But she did not succeed and ended the match with four lost games in a row. The American will challenge Olivia Gadecka from home in the next match.
Knutsonová – Cabreraová 5:7, 0:6
Knutsonová scored two wins at the Australian Open the year before and played for a place in the main competition in a direct fight. This time, however, she finished in the first round in the qualification. She was only able to keep up with the home 275th ranked player Lizette Cabrera in the opening act.
The Czech tennis player even managed to take a 4:2 lead at the beginning and served to win the set in the tenth game. However, then she lost her serve for the first time in the match, then lost a very long game and dropped out completely. She did not cause more complications for the Australian. Cabrera won the second set in 27 minutes when she had a problem at the end of the match. However, she used the fourth match point and advanced. Her next opponent will be Linda Klimovičová.
Match statistics. (@ Livesport / Enetpulse)Fruhvirtová – Friedsamová 2:6, 6:2, 6:3
In the first round of Australian Open qualification, Fruhvirtová managed to turn from 0:1 to sets. The eight-finalist of the main competition from 2023 and former TOP 50 player initially played the role of favorite and succeeded against the German Anna-Lena Friedsam after a three-set battle.
The 20th seed lost the first game on service, and although she immediately managed to equalize at 2:2, she did not win the next game in the first set. She lost the first set in just 32 minutes.
At the beginning of the second act, the Czech got up and took the lead after converting the third break point. She never hesitated on the serve and in the seventh game she succeeded again on the reception. Subsequently, she completed the set with a clean game and tied it at 1:1.
Fruhvirtová continued her improved performance in the third set. She started by winning her opponent’s serve and was once again supreme on her serve for a long time. Complications only came at the very end, when the Czech Republic could end the match at 5:2. However, she lost her serve and had to wait for the next step. Fortunately, in the following long game, she worked out a match point, which she used after more than two hours of fighting. She will compete with Fiona Ferrova to advance to the third round of qualification.
Australian Open women’s qualification results
