Czech charge: Milestone ITF title-wins for Havlickova and Fruhvirtova
Seventeen-year-old Lucie Havlickova clinched her first professional singles title on the ITF World Tennis Tour after edging Oceane Dodin 3-6 7-6(4) 7-5 to win W60 Trnava.
The reigning junior world No. 1 entered the Slovakian event as a qualifier ranked 345 in the world but proceeded to beat three players ranked well above her – including world No. 158 Daria Snigur and No. 102 Dodin – for a memorable maiden triumph.
She becomes just the sixth player in the last five years to win her first professional singles title at a W60 event - a triumph that will only assist her upward trajectory in the sport.
"This victory will help me a lot," Havlickova acknowledged. "I will be between 2-300 on the WTA ranking, which will be a big help because I will get to the main draw at the 40k or 60k tournaments.
"This will help, because the qualifying matches are difficult!"
Havlickova was the standout player in the junior game in 2022, winning the girls' singles crown at Roland Garros and finishing runner-up at the US Open, triumphing in the doubles event at both, and ending the year as ITF Junior World Champion.
Junior world No. 1 Lucie Havlickova has clinched her first professional singles title on the #ITFWorldTennisTour 🏆
— ITF (@ITFTennis) March 13, 2023
Full story 👉 https://t.co/D6rzst8TuY pic.twitter.com/DHm9jAYmXX
She has made a near-seamless transition to the professional tour and though she lost her first appearance in an ITF singles final (finishing runner-up to Vera Lapko at a W25 event also held in Trnava in October) made no mistake at the second attempt, battling back to defeat the season’s most in-form player at ITF level.
"I liked to come back here," admitted Havlickova of Trnava. "Even as a young player I had good memories from here. This surface fits me well, it's fast, I can move on it well. There are no negatives here!"
The defeated Dodin could still be more than content with her week, having improved to a 26-3 win-loss record in ITF events this year, six clear of her closest rivals Greet Minnen (20-3), of Belgium, and Czech Gabriela Knutson (tied in third place with 16 main draw match-wins) - the latter of whom was one of two first-time women’s winners this week alongside Havlickova.
Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova added to a standout weekend for the Czechs by taking another significant stride on the ITF World Tennis Tour with her biggest title yet at W40 Bengaluru.
The No. 1 seed came through a topsy-turvy encounter with home favourite Ankita Raina to win 0-6 6-4 6-0 and collect her first professional singles crown on a hard court.
The talented teen, who has played just three tournaments in 2023 given the need for her to abide by age eligibility rules, won eight titles last year - all on clay at ITF W25 level.
There were also a third ITF singles crown for rising teenager and former junior world No. 1 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, who won at W25 Boca Raton, while Korean’s Jang Sujeong clinched the other W60 title on offer last week at W60 Astana.
Click here for all the women's winners on the ITF World Tennis Tour this weekend