17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova has been touted as a super-talent for a while, and she’s finally made her maiden WTA final at the Chennai Open.
Fruhvirtova has been known as a very talented player on the junior circuit for a while, but the wider tennis world didn’t get to see her until the 2020 edition of the Prague Open, where she made her WTA Tour debut at 15.
Since then, the Czech player was able to confirm her talent by playing well when she got the chance to play on the WTA Tour. At 17 now, Fruhvirtova is fulfilling her potential with a chance to win her maiden WTA trophy.
She played wonderful tennis all week long in Chennai and will contest the final against the always-tricky Magda Linette. Being in the spotlight is nothing new for Fruhvirtova because it’s been like that since she was 10.
It was back then that she was touted as one of the most talented players in her country, and her public profile only grew since then.
"Since I was really young, we always had a lot of attention, even if it was the national U-10 tournament. I’m kind of used to people watching how I am going to do."
Even with the attention on her, Fruhvirtova was able to develop really good habits as to how she approaches things. She doesn’t really pay much attention to the headlines or reports, mostly focusing on her tennis.
"However, in tennis, as soon as you lose two matches, people say, 'Oh, she’s going down,' and then you win two matches, and they go, 'She’s a star.' You can’t really focus on what other people are saying. That’s not where my focus is going."
Winning the trophy in Chennai would certainly silence some of the detractors, and with the way she’s played so far, there is a very good chance that she might do it.
She advanced to her maiden WTA Tour final on Saturday by defeating 2020 French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in Chennai. Fruhvirtova overcame a 2-4 deficit in the final set to win, and she is now expected to enter the Top 100 on Monday.