Papa Bencic has a new protégée

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BRADENTON, Fla. – As Belinda Bencic looks to turn a nomination for Sportswoman of the year into an awardat the Swiss Sports gala Sunday in Zurich, the Olympic gold medalist’s dad/coach might not be there to see it.

Ivan Bencic, 58, was observing a new protégée last week – or perhaps even two.

Linda Fruhvirtova and Brenda Fruhvirtova, the sister sensations who have been cutting a swath through the late-season junior events, had Bencic among the several coaches watching on during their matches last week at the Eddie Herr International Championships in Bradenton, Fla.

With Linda clearly having little to prove at the junior level any more (and having already played plenty of pro events), it’s logical to want someone around familiar with the transition.

Whatever the formula is, it’s working.

The sisters, seeded No. 3 (Linda) and No. 5 (Brenda) reached the final at the Eddie Herr, held at the IMG Academy.

Linda won the title after she took a 2-0 lead in the first set, and her younger sister retired.

Three Tournaments, Three Singles Finals

It was the third consecutive final the pair had reached – their first three meetings at the ITF level.

Linda beat Brenda 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the J1 final in Guadalajara, Mexico the week of Nov. 15.

Then, Brenda beat Linda 7-5, 7-5 in the final of the Junior A tournament in Merida, Mexico the week of Nov. 22.

So they’re … sort of still tied 1-1 after the default.

This week, they’re at the Orange Bowl, where Linda is seeded No. 3 and Brenda, No. 4.

The amount of tennis these two have played is off the charts. Brenda, a 2007, already has played 74 junior singles matches at the ITF level.

Linda, born in 2005, sat at 93-29 entering this week’s Orange Bowl.

Doubles and Singles Success for the Fruhvirtovas

The sisters have teamed up in doubles over the last few weeks, also with great success.

They won the title in Guadalajara without dropping a set.

In Merida, the Canadian team of Victoria Mboko and Kayla Cross defeated them in the quarterfinals.

And at the Eddie Herr, they reached the final – defeating Mboko and Cross, 10-8 in the match tiebreak, in the semis. Petra Marcinko of Croatia and Diana Schnaider of Russia defeated them 3-6, 7-5, 11-9 in the title match.

They are the No. 1 seeds at the Orange Bowl this week.

A LOT of tennis – probably too much tennis

At 14, Brenda Fruhvirtova has played … a lot of tennis.

You could certainly make the argument that it’s been too much tennis.

Awhile back, Open Court looked into the amount of junior tennis played by players like Cici Bellis and Bianca Andreescu. It was … a lot. And whether there’s a cause-effect relationship or not, both have dealt with a lot of injuries both late in their junior careers and, in the case of Bellis, in her early steps as a pro.

But compared to the Fruhvirtova sisters, they were slackers.

In the last three weeks alone, Brenda has played 18 singles and 11 doubles matches – 28 in all. That includes a first-round singles win at the Orange Bowl Tuesday – surely with more to come.

In 2021, since she played her first event in late February, the 14-year-old has played 56 singles and 51 doubles matches – a total of 108 matches in just over nine months. At just 14, when she’s just getting started growing.

Sister Linda, more mature physically but still a kid, has played a total of … 115 matches in 2021.

In juniors, she’s played 44 singles and 32 doubles matches. That includes a routine first round singles win at the Orange Bowl Tuesday.

In the pros, 30 singles and nine doubles matches. That included a run to the quarterfinals at the Charleston WTA 500 event.

Linda Fruhvirtova won her first career WTA Tour singles match when veteran Alizé Cornet retired at 4-4 in the third set of their first-round match.

We’ll see if Papa Bencic is along for the ride.

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