Linda Fruhvirtova, 16, is into the last-16 of the Miami Open after Viktoria Azarenka abruptly retires
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Updated 27/03/2022 at 19:21 GMT
World No, 279 Linda Fruhvirtova, aged 16, is through to the last 16 of the Miami Open. Fruhvirtova, who had just two WTA tour wins to her name at Charleston last year before the WTA 1000 tournament, was given a wildcard for Miami and has now into the last-16. Fruhvirtova becomes the youngest female singles player to win a third round match at Miami since Tatiana Golvin in 2004.
Linda Fruhvirtova
Image credit: Getty Images
Linda Fruhvirtova, aged just 16, is into the last-16 of the Miami Open after Viktoria Azarenka retires at 6-2 3-0.
Fruhvirtova, who lost in the first round of Miami Open qualifying a year ago, has progressed to the fourth round after a shock win against the two-time Grand Slam winner.
The Czech player will face Paula Badosa in the next round of the WTA 1000 event after the Spaniard beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-2 earlier in the day.
Fruhvirtova, who beat No. 20 seed Elise Mertens 7-5 2-6 6-1 in the second round, says she will remember her win over Azarenka forever.
"I saw it wasn't her best tennis but of course I didn't want it to end this way," Fruhvirtova said after the match.
"Vika is one of the players I grew up watching and she is definitely the one to look up to. I hope that she feels better as soon as possible.
"I don't think I've ever played in such a big stadium and these are the memories I'm going to remember forever."
Fruhvirtova, who already has three ITF titles to her name, was unstoppable against her Belarusian opponent.
The Czech teenager quickly won the opening three games of the first set. Azarenka was able to recover at 3-2, but Fruhvirtova responded by breaking the former world No. 1's serve again and reeled off a further two games to take the first set in 34 minutes.
Azarenka, who shouted towards her coach 'why am I here?' had no answer to Fruhvirtova's dominance as the Czech marched into a 3-0 lead in the second set, before Azarenka abruptly decided to retire from the match and barely shook the hand of the teenager before leaving the court.
It is Azarenka's seventh mid-tournament retirement or withdrawal in the past 14 months.
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