Another Czech girl again?

Honestly, these young women are everywhere!

The New Zealander is finally back on court. A multicultural profile at its peak. Born in New Zealand to a Croatian father and a Chinese mother, she has lived in China and then in Switzerland. After playing on the US college NCAA circuit, she was also a junior doubles finalist right here at the Australian Open. A Wimbledon quarterfinal with a win over a top-10 player and a final in Monterrey in 2024 confirmed her potential.

The year 2025 was more complicated despite a WTA 250 final in China. She loves fast surfaces, especially grass. Her sliced lefty serve is a real weapon, averaging around five aces per match. It often allows her to finish the point quickly, and she is hard to break if her opponent is not an exceptional returner. From the baseline, her two-handed backhand is interesting, but she is not an extremely powerful player. Without first serves, she can quickly find herself out of options.

She had to withdraw from Auckland due to a recurring wrist injury that had already appeared in Guangzhou in 2025. She told the New Zealand media that the problem was not completely resolved despite rehab and that it had seriously undermined her pre-season preparation. She also hasn’t played an official match since October, which is not very reassuring. We recently saw Greet Minnen complain about a lack of preparation, like other players, and note a direct impact on match performance in these AO conditions!

Her opponent will be no walk in the park. A pure product of the Mouratoglou Academy, a WTA 250 champion in 2023, the hype around the Fruhvirtová sisters has admittedly died down a bit, but the raw talent is still obvious. She came through qualifying showing a lot of solidity, with three three-set matches. She is clearly match-fit, has already found her bearings, and is ready for a battle. Linda favors variety, changes of rhythm, a game sometimes reminiscent of Krejčíková, and feels comfortable on fast hard courts. A fine tennis IQ in the end.