Sára Bejlek (born 31 January 2006) is a Czech tennis player.[2]
Bejlek has career-high WTA rankings of world No. 114 in singles, achieved on 6 May 2024, and No. 671 in doubles, set on 1 August 2022. To date, she has won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour along with six singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit.
Bejlek won the 2022 French Open girl's doubles event, partnering with Lucie Havlíčková.[4] In addition, she reached the semifinals in singles.[5]
Professional career
2021: First ITF Circuit title & top 500
In July, she won her first and up to date biggest title at the $60k ITS Cup in Olomouc, Czech Republic, by double bagelling Paula Ormaechea in the final.[3] As a result, after making her WTA rankings debut, she improved her rank by 557 positions to No. 447 in just one month.[6][7]
2022: Grand Slam & top 200 debuts
In June, at the Česká Lípa, she won the $60k Macha Lake Open, defeating fellow Czech Jesika Malečková in the final.[8] The following week, Bejlek made her WTA Tour-level debut at Wimbledon Championships in qualifying, but she was beaten in the first round by Emina Bektas.[9] A month later, she was able to defend her title at the ITS Cup, this time defeating Lina Gjorcheska in the final.[10] She continued with making progress at the US Open with her major main-draw debut after three wins in the qualifying.[11] She was the youngest player in the 2022 US Open main draw, having been the youngest direct entrant to qualifying.[3][12][13]
2023: Australian Open debut, toggle between ITF Circuit & WTA Tour, top 150
Bejlek at the 2023 French Open
At 16, as the second-youngest player in the top 200, she made her debut at the Australian Open.[14] She lost to her compatriot Barbora Krejčíková in the first round.[15] In early April, she reached her first final of the year, the $60k Split tournament, but lost to Tara Würth.[16]
A month later, she made her qualifying debut at the WTA 1000 tournament at the Italian Open. In the first round of qualifying, she triumphed with losing only three games.[17] Still, she failed to qualify after losing in the following round of qualifying.[18] Next destination was the French Open where she passed qualifying without losing a set, to reach the main draw at Roland Garros for the first time.[19] Similar to the previous two Grand Slams main-draw appearances, she lost in the first round.[20]
After failing in Wimbledon in qualifying,[21] she reached another $60k final in the Hague but lost it to Arantxa Rus.[22] Two weeks later, she finally won her first title of the year, at the $25k tournament in Pärnu, Estonia.[23] In early September, she reached her third $60k final of the year in the Czech Republic, at the Kuchyně Gorenje Prague Open, but again finished runner-up.[24]
Sara won her first WTA 125 title at the Copa Santiago in Chile on 19 November 2023 defeating Diane Parry in the final.[25]
2024: WTA 1000 debut and first wins, top 115
At the Australian Open, she was the first to qualify into the main draw for a second consecutive year.
She also qualified for the Madrid Open making her WTA 1000 debut, and reached the third round for the first time at this level, recording her first wins (and also top-50 wins), over Russians Anna Blinkova,[26] 24th seed Anna Kalinskaya and Ashlyn Krueger to reach the fourth round. She lost to Elena Rybakina in straight sets.[27] As a result, she reached a new career-high ranking in the top 115 on 6 May 2024.
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.
^The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
^Vávra, Aleš (7 October 2021). "Další český zázrak, Bejlek v patnácti rozebírá dospělé. Mimořádné, žasne Novák". aktualne.cz (in Czech).
^ abcMacpherson, Alex (27 August 2022). "The 2022 US Open's Grand Slam debutantes: Bejlek, Andreeva, Fruhvirtova and more". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^"Havlickova defeats Sierra to capture French Open junior crown". WTA Tennis. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^Macpherson, Alex (27 July 2022). "New wave of Czech teenagers makes impact in Prague". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^"WTA Ranking Watch: First-time title winners Collins, Zanevska climb". WTA Tennis. July 26, 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^"Žebříčky ATP/WTA: Bejlek poskočila o 557 míst! Nová maxima slaví Kopřiva i Lehečka". tenisovysvet.cz (in Czech). 26 July 2021.
^"Mácha Lake Open: Bejlek porazila Malečkovou, vyhrála druhou šedesátku v kariéře" [Mácha Lake Open: Bejlek defeated Malečková, won the second sixty in her career]. tenisovysvet.cz (in Czech). 19 June 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^Macpherson, Alex (27 July 2022). "New wave of Czech teenagers makes impact in Prague". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^McLean, Ross (25 July 2022). "Czech Bejlek continues meteoric rise with victory at W60 Olomouc". ITF Tennis. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^"Czech teens Fruhvirtova, Noskova, Bejlek qualify for US Open main draw". WTA Tennis. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
^Chiesa, Victoria (26 August 2022). "Meet the 2022 US Open women's qualifiers". Retrieved 29 August 2023.
^"Why we should expect a big rise from teenager Sara Bejlek".
^WTA Staff (12 January 2023). "Brenda Fruhvirtova, Shnaider, Bejlek qualify for Australian Open". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Australian Open: Životní výhry Lehečky se Svrčinou! Bez ztráty setu postupují rovněž Kvitová, Muchová a Krejčíková (in Czech)" [Australian Open: Lifetime wins of Lehečka with Svrčina! Kvitová, Muchová and Krejčíková also advance without losing a set]. tenisovysvet.cz. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Denní menu, 8.4.2023: Bejlek finálový obrat nedotáhla. Kopřiva neuspěl v kvalifikaci Masters (in Czech)" [Daily menu, 8/4/2023: Bejlek did not make the final turn. Kopřiva failed to qualify for the Masters]. tenisovysvet.cz. 9 April 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Denní menu, 8.5.2023: Bejlek v Římě ztratila jen tři gemy! Martincová a Kopřiva zvládli dramata (in Czech)" [Daily menu, 8/5/2023: Bejlek lost only three games in Rome! Martincová and Kopřiva mastered the dramas]. tenisovysvet.cz. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Denní menu, 9.5.2023: Vondroušová nadělila kanára. Nosková vyřadila grandslamovou čtvrtfinalistku! (in Czech)" [Daily menu, 9/5/2023: Vondroušová gave the canary. Nosková eliminated the Grand Slam quarterfinalist!]. tenisovysvet.cz. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Roland Garros: Bez ztráty setu! Bejlek s Fruhvirtovou slaví postup do hlavní soutěže (in Czech)" [Roland Garros: Without losing a set! Bejlek and Fruhvirtová celebrate advancing to the main competition]. tenisovysvet.cz. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^Marek Bartošík (28 May 2023). "Grandslamový sen opět odložen. Nečekaně hodně mě to svázalo, lituje Sára Bejlek (in Czech)" [The Grand Slam dream postponed again. It unexpectedly tied me up a lot, regrets Sára Bejlek]. tenisovysvet.cz. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^Marek Janoš (27 June 2023). "První set za 15 minut, ve druhém bitva. Zápasy se Sárou jsou vždycky derby, řekla po premiéře B. Fruhvirtová (in Czech)" [First set in 15 minutes, battle in the second. Matches with Sára are always derbies, B. Fruhvirtová said after the premiere]. tenisovysvet.cz. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Denní menu, 9.7.2023: Wimbledonské derby zvládla Vondroušová, Bejlek titul nevybojovala (in Czech)" [Daily menu, 9/7/2023: Vondroušová won the Wimbledon derby, Bejlek did not win the title]. tenisovysvet.cz. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^David Schlegel (26 July 2023). "Triumf v Pärnu byl náročnější, protože jsem hrála o US Open, vypráví Sára Bejlek (in Czech)" [The triumph in Pärnu was more challenging because I was playing for the US Open, says Sára Bejlek]. tenisovysvet.cz. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Kuchyně Gorenje Prague Open: Bejlek podlehla v napínavém finále zkušené Rumunce (in Czech)" [Kitchen Gorenje Prague Open: Bejlek lost to an experienced Romanian in the exciting final]. tenisovysvet.cz. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^"Bejlek triumphs in Colina for first WTA 125 title of career". WTA Tennis. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
^"Bejlek rallies past Blinkova in Madrid for first WTA main-draw win of career".
^"Who is Sara Bejlek? A Beginner's Guide to Elena Rybakina's next opponent in Madrid". 28 April 2024.