Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic in action during the first round against Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic at the 2020 Prague Open WTA (Imago)
8th seed Linda Fruhvirtova locks horns with Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the round of 32 of the 2023 Thailand Open on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova has shown a lot of promise and is one of the rising stars in women’s tennis.
Fruhvirtova began the new season with a loss against Emma Raducanu in the first round of the ASB Classic. However, the teenager did not give up without a fight. In the first round of the Australian Open, she defeated Jaimee Fourlis in straight sets. Fruhvitova produced another sensational effort to defeat Kimberly Birrell in the second round. In the third round, Fruhvirtova managed to defeat compatriot and 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova in a three-set thriller. Fruhvirtova won despite having 11 double faults to her name. The dream run eventually ended in the fourth round as she lost to Donna Vekic.
The experienced campaigner will be playing her first singles event in 2023 after playing doubles events at the ASB Classic and the Australian Open.
The 37-year-old managed to reach the finals of the doubles event at the ASB Classic alongside Leylah Fernandez. The American-Canadian duo lost to the third-seeded team of Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato in the final. In the Australian Open, they lost in the first round to Beatriz Haddad Maia and Zhang Shuai. In the mixed doubles event, Bethanie teamed with Mate Pavic and lost in the second round to the Brazilian duo of Rafael Matos and Luisa Stefani.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Linda Fruhvirtova to win in three sets.
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