Brenda Fruhvirtova Exclusive: On traveling the world as a teen, dealing with comparisons to Venus & Serena Williams, advising her sister Linda, & more
Brenda Fruhvirtova and her elder sister Linda Fruhvirtova are two of the biggest prospects in world tennis at the moment, part of the new era of Czech tennis that churns out one teenager after another on the WTA Tour.
While Linda broke into the top 100 last year and won her maiden tour title at the WTA 250 event in Chennai, India, 15-year-old Brenda is eager to get there soon. Currently, she is Bengaluru, India, for an ITF event, where she has reached the final in stellar fashion.
Speaking in an exclusive in-depth conversation with Sportskeeda ahead of the summit clash, the World No. 163 touched on several topics of note, including how it felt to be traveling around the world as a teenager, the stars she grew up watching on TV, and more.
Naturally, the comparisons to Venus and Serena Williams came up, as did the likelihood of Brenda Fruhvirtova joining her sister Linda on her trip to Chennai this year for her title defense.
Exclusive Interview with Brenda Fruhvirtova
Sportskeeda: Take us through how you feel about traveling around the world at the age of 15 and playing matches. Is this something you had always dreamt of?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: I feel like traveling around the world and playing matches is like normal for me, because I've done that my whole life. So it's pretty much a normal thing.
Sportskeeda: What's the short-term goal for 2023, anything ranking-wise you have in mind? And what are your long-term goals?
Fruhvirtova: Short-term goal for 2023 is probably top 100 and getting to the Grand Slams with my ranking. And long-term goal is becoming World No. 1 and winning Grand Slams.
Sportskeeda: Are there any players you watched on TV and wished to play against?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: 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.
Sportskeeda: Who is your idol when it comes to tennis? And beyond tennis, which athlete do you look up to?
Fruhvirtova: Actually I don't have an idol in tennis or beyond tennis, I don't know. But I think every successful athlete is inspiring.
Sportskeeda: Who is your dream partner for doubles, both mixed and women's doubles? And among the Big-3 and between the women's legends like Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams, who would you like to be partnered with?
Fruhvirtova: 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.
Sportskeeda: How does Linda being on tour help you? Does she give you any big sister advice? Did she brag to you about her first-round comeback win in Indian Wells, for example?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: With Linda, we don't really talk so much about tennis. But when we are on tournaments, I think we, we give each other advice. It's not like, she's giving me advice only, but I'm giving her also some advice. So it's two-sided.
Sportskeeda: You've spoken about comparisons with the Williams sisters in the past, Linda has as well. In fact, she insisted that you both never wanted to copy them... But is that a legacy you are both, unconsciously, trying to live up to, in your own ways? On that note, are there any other sibling athletes you both idolize?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: Of course, the Williams sisters are probably the greatest of all time but we we never tried to like, copy anyone. And yeah, we just kind of want to go, like our own way.
Sportskeeda: You had a 27-match win-streak last year. Any particular takeaways from that run? For instance, Iga Swiatek spoke about how it got harder and harder for her as the streak extended because of all the expectations on her to keep on adding to it... was it the same for you?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: It was pretty surprising for me. Like I didn't even expect to win that many matches in a row, but for sure, in the end, you know, you go like, every week was a new tournament, and I felt like I cannot win all the time. So I knew that the the loss is going to come and for sure the loss was painful. But you know, you just kind of like, expect to lose.
Sportskeeda: Linda won her first WTA title in Chennai last year, and she had a brilliant reception all throughout the tournament. So can we expect to see you both in the tournament this year?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: Yes, I hope so. I hope that I'm going to come to Chennai and play the WTA tournament, and I hope we can go, both me and my sister.
Sportskeeda: Finally, the 2023 Australian Open was your first Slam together with your sister Linda... how was that experience?
Brenda Fruhvirtova: The experience was really amazing, and it was really fun and nice to be there with my sister. And we both did very well, so it was a really nice start to the year.