"A lot of the Williams sisters and Roger Federer" - Brenda Fruhvirtova on the players she and her sister Linda grew up watching
Brenda Fruhvirtova revealed that she and her sister Linda grew up watching a lot of the Williams sisters and Roger Federer, even if it didn't make her want to play against some of them in the future.
The 15-year-old Czech is now in Bengaluru, India, for the ITF India 07A, where she has reached the final. Before the summit clash against local favorite Ankita Raina on Saturday, Fruhvirtova spoke in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, where she disclosed which players she and Linda grew up watching.
"When we were young, we used to watch a lot of the Williams sisters and Roger Federer, but I think I never wished like to play against them," she said.
At the same time, Brenda Fruhvirtova made it clear that she did not think of any particular player as her idol. Instead, she found inspiration from every athlete at the top of their sport.
"Actually, I don't have an idol in tennis or beyond tennis. But I think every successful athlete is inspiring," she said.
The World No. 163 further added that Venus Williams and Serena Williams were big inspirations for her and her sister Linda, but the duo were adamant about not copying them. Instead, they wanted to find their own path in the sport and go their own way.
"Of course the Williams sisters are probably the greatest of all times but we we never tried to, like, copy anyone. And yeah, we, just kind of want to go like our own way," she said.
Brenda Fruhvirtova picked Serena Williams among others like Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf to play doubles with
Brenda Fruhvirtova also picked Serena Williams to play doubles with from a line-up that consisted of other legends of the sport. The list includes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
However, left to pick any player of her own choice to partner with, the 15-year-old maintained that her dream partner for women's doubles will always be her sister Linda.
"My dream partner for doubles is definitely my sister and mixed doubles, I don't know. Among the Big-3 and between the women's Legends like Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams, probably with Serena," Fruhvitova said.
While Brenda Fruhvirtova is in Bengaluru for the ITF tournament, Linda was in Indian Wells recently for the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open. She lost in the second round to 27th seed Anhelina Kalinina.