AUSTRALIAN OPEN – Nikola Bartůňková (19) destroyed the American Whitney Osuigwe 6:1, 6:0 in the final round of the Australian Open qualification and secured her promotion to the main competition on her debut in Melbourne. Linda Fruhvirtová (20), who turned the duel with Carol Lee and won 5:7, 6:2, 6:4, will also play here again. On the contrary, Darja Viďmanová (23) ends in the third round, losing 6:4, 4:6, 1:6 to the Chinese Zhuoxuan Bai.
Bartůňková – Osuigweová 6:1, 6:0
In her premiere at the Australian Open, Bartůňková managed the role of seeded sixteen in the qualification and secured the main competition. After struggling in the second round against home player Tina Smith and progressing only after her scratch in the second set, she produced a brilliant performance in the end.
She swept the American Osuiqwe in 63 minutes of play and lost only one game. She lost it right at the start when she lost her serve. An 11-game winning streak followed.
The Czech teenager is playing her very first qualification at the Grand Slams, she immediately entered the seeds, was able to confirm her position and fought her way to the main competition. It will be supplemented by another 9 Czechs who did not have to qualify.
Fruhvirtová – Leeová 5:7, 6:2, 6:4
Fruhvirtová is the eleventh Czech representative to play in the main competition in Melbourne. She managed three three-set duels in this year’s qualification. At the first Grand Slam of the year, she will have the chance to follow up on her sensational round of 16, which she played here during her debut in 2023.
In the third round, the former member of the TOP 50 turned the almost three-hour battle with Lee. In the tenth game of the first set, the Czech did not use two set points, then she lost her serve for the first time, and then the whole set. In the second act, she was clearly the better player, jumping to a 3:0 lead and never coming back. She held all her serves and tied the game at 1:1 in sets after another break.
The deciding set was again very even. In the eighth game, Fruhvirtová broke the American’s serve again and had a chance to finish the match. She earned two match points in a row, which she did not use and subsequently wasted the third. She eventually lost her serve for the second time in the match. However, she then won Lee’s serve with a clean game and could celebrate the advance.
Viďmanová – Bai 6:4, 4:6, 1:6
Viďmanová was the only Czech who lost in the final round of qualification. She did not succeed like last year at the US Open, where she fell already in the second round. This time she was only one set short of starting among the elite.
The Czech player took the first set, which featured seven lost serves. However, she was not able to enter the second act and was quickly losing 1:4 to the dangerous Chinese Bai. She was able to erase the lack of a break in the end and served to equalize at 4:5. However, she failed to do so, lost the set and was eliminated from then on.
Although she fought in the deciding set, she was only able to equalize at 1:1. She lost three long games in a row, and the 697th player in the world ended the match after more than two and a half hours.
Australian Open women’s qualification results
The article was originally published for Livesport Zprávy.
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