Australian Open: 16-year-olds Fruhvirtova and Korneeva through to second round of qualifying

Brenda Fruhvirtova is hoping to join her sister, 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, in the Australian Open women’s singles main draw

Brenda Fruhvirtova at the ITF Leipzig Open 2023

Haresh Ramchandani

January 9, 2024

Czech teen Brenda Fruhvirtova scored a straight sets win over Australian Petra Hule to advance to the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open women’s singles draw on Tuesday.

Fruhvirtova, who reached the final round of qualifying at Wimbledon last year, won 6-4, 6-4 to set up a second-round clash against another Australian, Talia Gibson, a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 winner over Romania’s Andreea Mitu.

The 16-year-old Fruhvirtova, seeded 10th in the qualifying draw, has been shooting up the pro ranks over the past two seasons – rising from outside the top 1000 in January 2022 to her current ranking of No 110. She started the season by qualifying for the main draw in Auckland and beating top 50 player Anna Blinkova before going down to top seed and eventual champion Coco Gauff in the second round.

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Brenda’s older sister, 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, already has a direct entry into the Australian Open main draw thanks to her world ranking of 85.

Another 16-year-old, Russia’s Alina Korneeva, also advanced to the second round in her first Grand Slam appearance on the pro tour. The former world No 1 junior, who won the Australian Open and Roland-Garros junior titles in 2023, scored a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over 31st seed Sachia Vickery. She will net meet China’s YeXin Ma for a place in the final round of qualifying.

Former top 40 player Rebecca Marino was another notable name to win on Tuesday, scoring a 7-6, 6-0 win over Yang Ya-yi to set up a second-round clash against France’s Jessika Ponchet next.