Brenda Fruhvirtova

Just as Venus Williams said about Serena, Linda Fruhvirtova has often said that her little sister, Brenda, would be stronger than her. History has yet to be written for Patrick Mouratoglou‘s protégés, but the fact remains that ‘little’ Brenda is scrupulously following in her elder sister’s footsteps, to the point where she will have succeeded her in the Petits As, the unofficial Under-14 World Championship, in 2020, at the age of 12. In fact, the Fruhvirtovas are the only two ‘sisters’ to have won the Petits As in the history of the prestigious Tarbais tournament, which brings together the world’s best in the 14 and under category.

Since then, Brenda has also enjoyed a brilliant junior career and made a perfect start to her professional career, with an impressive collection of ITF tournament trophies (15) and a place in the top 100 in 2024 (87th at her best), the year of her first Grand Slam victories. At 17, the best is yet to come…

Member of the Mouratoglou Academy since 2017.

Junior career: 7 ITF titles, world no. 3

Brenda Fruhvirtova was quick to turn to the professional circuit, but she nonetheless won five ITF titles in the category, including three Grade 1 titles in 2021, which enabled her to reach No. 3 in the world. At the end of 2021, she played her older sister Linda in three consecutive tournaments, beating her once in the final of the Grade 1 in Merida, before leading her country to victory in the Billie Jean King Cup juniors a few weeks later.

WTA career: A trial run, a master stroke

A precocious phenomenon, Brenda Fruhvirtova made her mark in July 2020 by beating her compatriot Katerina Siniakova, then ranked 54th in the world (7-6, 6-1), aged just 13 and six months after triumphing at the Petits As. Admittedly, it was only an exhibition, but to show once and for all that value waits for no age, the young Czech struck another major blow a year later: on 21 December 2021, her very first match on the pro circuit, at the 125 tournament in Seoul to which she had been invited, ended in victory over Korea’s Jeong Moon. At the age of 14…

Despite this masterstroke, Brenda first cut her teeth on the ITF circuit, where she wreaked havoc by winning 15 titles. The very first of these, in Tucuman at the start of 2022, was won under the watchful eye of Gabriela Sabatini and made her one of only 21 players in the last 25 years to win a pro title at just 14 years of age. Except that Brenda doubled her tally by winning another ITF tournament in Tucuman in the process, something no other player that young had ever done. And just after that, Brenda qualified for her first main tour tournament in Guadalajara by beating Sara Errani, becoming the youngest player to do so since Madison Keys in 2009.

After a dantesque 2022 season (51 wins and nine defeats), it was in 2023 that Brenda Fruhvirtova made her entry into the world’s tennis elite by becoming, at 15, the fifth youngest player to qualify for the Australian Open. A year later, in 2024, she scored her first Grand Slam successes (again in Australia, then at Wimbledon), but also in the WTA 1000 (Miami then Rome) to break into the top 100, at No. 87 in the world, reached in July. All at the age of 17.

UTS career

Brenda Fruhvirtova took part in the only women’s UTS tournament organised to date, in 2020, aged just 13. Nicknamed the Prodigy, she lost three quarters to Alizé Cornet.

Like her sister Linda, to whom she is very close, Brenda was trained by her father, Hynek Fruhvirt, at Sparta Prague, the famous club in the Czech capital where Thomas Berdych, the Pliskova sisters and Radek Stepanek, among others, also played. As well as tennis, she loves music, travelling, which she often features on social networks, and reading, particularly novels and self-help books. She also enjoys surfing, both on the sea and in the snow.