Linda Noskova: After beating Serena and Venus Williams in doubles, could Czech be breakout player of 2023?

Published 23/12/2022 at 10:26 GMT

After beating Serena and Venus Williams in doubles at the US Open, could Linda Noskova be one of the breakout players to watch in 2023? The 18-year-old teamed up with Lucie Hradecka to beat the Williams sisters in their last-ever doubles match in New York. Noskova also reached two WTA semi-finals this year and became the youngest woman to make the French Open draw through qualifying in 13 years.

'Wow, world class!' - Noskova wins incredible point against Raducanu

Breakout: suddenly and extremely popular or successful.

Every year there are breakout players on the ATP and WTA tours. This year some of the more notable were Holger Rune, who reached the top 10 after starting outside the top 100, Jack Draper, who moved up over 200 places in the rankings, and Zheng Qinwen, who rose over 100 places in the WTA rankings.

Who will be the breakout players to watch out for in 2023?

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This week we are profiling five players to keep an eye on in the year ahead. After looking at American duo Alycia Parks and Ben Shelton, Italian youngster Luca Nardi and 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, we finish with Linda Noskova.

What did Noskova do in 2022?

There’s no doubting Noskova’s highlight of 2022 – she has a picture of it as the wallpaper on her phone.

At the US Open, Noskova, 18, teamed up with Lucie Hradecka to play Serena and Venus Williams in the final doubles match of their career. Four years earlier Noskova had been watching Serena play at the French Open, and posted a photo on social media with the caption: “Wait, what please pinch me if I am dreaming. I love her so much.”

Now she has a picture of her on court with the Williams sisters.

“I have my wallpaper,” Noskova told the WTA. “It's going to stay there forever.”

Noskova and Hradecka won the match in straight sets against the 14-time women's doubles Grand Slam champions.

Noskova started the year ranked at No. 265 but reached No. 87 before dropping slightly by the end of the season. She became the youngest woman to make the French Open main draw through qualifying in 13 years and pushed Emma Raducanu close in the first round in Paris.

Noskova hit 48 winners (24 from her two-handed backhand) vs 24 in total from Raducanu, but a large unforced error count from Noskova saw the British No. 1 emerge victorious.

'Wow!' - Noskova takes opening set against Britain's Raducanu at French Open

"It was an absolute battle,” said Raducanu afterwards. "I have to say Linda’s playing some amazing tennis. She really came out firing. As soon as I dropped my ball speed, she was killing me."

Noskova also reached WTA semi-finals in Croatia and Czech Republic, and qualified for the main draw of the US Open, where she lost to fellow Czech Marie Bouzkova in three sets in the first round.

Why could Noskova have a big 2023?

With plenty of young Czech talent in the top 200, Noskova has competition to make her breakthrough next season.

She has an impressive, well-balanced game, though. She likes to get inside the baseline and shows good attacking intent, especially on the forehand side. She also has a solid serve and has looked composed on court – at the US Open she saved set points on her own serve against the Williams sisters in her first doubles match alongside Hradecka.

This time last year Noskova’s coach Tomasz Krupa described her as a “great prospect”. She has taken several steps forward since then and will be looking to progress further now she has turned 18 and has no restrictions on the amount of tournaments she can play.

“It's going to be my first year as an adult, so I can play as many tournaments as I want,” she told the WTA.

“There's no such thing as a limit now…I think I'm just really looking forward to being all around the world.”

What have they said?

Noskova after qualifying for the 2022 French Open: “I’m really an introvert, I don’t take things too personally or too deep, but sometimes I keep all the emotions in me and won’t show anything. That’s not always good for me and sometimes I think about my failures, losses for a long time, but I’m working a lot on that with myself.”

What Noskova loves most about Serena Williams: “Her mentality, probably. How she can inspire people, the way she plays, how aggressive she is.”