In her first appearance under the blinding lights of Rod Laver Arena, the biggest moment of her young, flourishing career, Linda Noskova stepped up to the occasion and played a brilliant match to outclass Iga Swiatek, the world No 1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time.
“I’m speechless, I knew it’s gonna be an amazing match against the world No 1 player,” said Noskova. “I don’t really think it would end up like this but I’m just glad to make it through another round.”
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At 19, Noskova is the highest ranked player in the next wave of Czech rising stars and one of the best young players in the world. Having established herself inside the top 50 last year, it was only a matter of time before the world No 50 stepped up and delivered a big win.
While Swiatek remained the tournament favourite, her extremely difficult run through the draw had underlined her vulnerabilities. Two days earlier, Danielle Collins led Swiatek by 4-1 and a double break before the Pole reeled off five games in a row to survive. While Swiatek performed exceptionally to pull herself back from the brink of defeat, her struggles evidently shattered any illusions that she was untouchable in Melbourne.
Noskova stepped on to the court fully aware that she had more than enough power and weight of shot to frustrate Swiatek, who tends to be most vulnerable to the bigger hitters who can take time away from her and force her behind the baseline.
A smooth, vicious ball-striker with a spectacular backhand, Noskova constantly looked to work herself inside the baseline and dominate the exchanges. After narrowly losing a tight, competitive opening set, she settled into the match and began to swing freely as she took control. Noskova slammed down 35 winners, she served brilliantly and she held her nerve to seal her victory.
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In her short career, Noskova had pulled off three previous wins over a top-10 player. At the grand slam tournaments, though, while she had pushed prominent players and shown that she was close, Noskova still awaited her first top 50 win and she had never crossed the third round of a grand slam. Now she has beaten the best player in the world and she has positioned herself to battle for even more.