Czech teen Linda Fruhvirtova claimed her first career WTA singles title in dramatic fashion as she came back from a break down in the final set to beat Magda Linette and win the WTA 250 Chennai Open.
The 17-year-old Fruhvirtova showed heart and grit as she defeated the third seed from Poland 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a late evening thriller played in front of a packed Chennai crowd.
After the players split the first two sets, Linette, a two-time WTA singles champion, drew first blood in the decider to go ahead 4-1. But just as she did in her semifinal, Fruhvirtova produced some of her best with her back against the wall. The teenager won five games on the trot to complete the victory in two hours and 40 minutes.
With the win, Fruhvirtova is projected to break into the top 75 of the world rankings for the first time on Monday while Linette is projected to return to the world’s top 50.
“This is something I’ll remember forever.”
Nothing but love for the #ChennaiOpen fans from Linda Fruhvirtova 💞 pic.twitter.com/w0ACs0Z23W
— wta (@WTA) September 18, 2022
Earlier in the evening, top…
