Google News Marion Bartoli: Linda Fruhvirtova, Brenda Fruhvirtova can be future of women's tennis
by DZEVAD MESIC
Marion Bartoli has predicted big things for Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova as she believes the Fruhvirtova sisters "can be the future of tennis." Linda, 17, reached her first Grand Slam round-of-16 at this year's Australian Open.
Following her great Australian Open run that ended with a defeat against 33rd-ranked Donna Vekic, Linda rose to a career-high ranking of No 51 in the world. On the other side, 15-year-old Brenda won three qualifying matches at Melbourne Park to make her Grand Slam main draw debut.
In the Australian Open first round, 130rd-ranked Brenda suffered a defeat against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Bartoli: The Fruhvirtova sisters are the future of tennis
“For Brenda to be able to go into the main draw at such a young age and for Linda to be in the fourth round and go into three sets against Donna Vekic, knowing how young they are, you can see this whole new generation starting to push, the under-18s.
That for me is going to be very interesting for women’s tennis. We need to have some rivalries taking place; we need to have some new, young girls that our young kids can be excited about. I feel those girls can be the future of women’s tennis and can really push the ones who are established to do better and to push them to their highest," Bartoli said on the new episode of Tennis Majors' Break Points.
The Fruhvirtova sisters drew lots of positive attention to their games last year. Now, they are widely regarded as one of the most talented and promising players on the WTA Tour. Linda won't be turning 18 until May but she has already reached the second week of a Grand Slam and she is ranked just one place outside the top-50.
On the other side, Brenda is just 15 and she has already competed in a Grand Slam and is ranked inside the top-130 in the world.