Czech, please: Bejlek breaks out in Cincy

20-year-old lefthander: ‘I just keep believing’

By Richard Osborn

As if the Czech women’s tennis scene wasn’t already deep enough.

That Bohemian lineage that traces from Navratilova to Mandlikova to Sukova to Novotna to Kvitova; onward to Pliskova to Krejcikova to Muchova to Noskova and beyond, is stretching onward by the day. The latest addition? A 20-year-old disruptor from a terra cotta-rooved hilltop town known more for vintners than for tennis players.

Meet Sara Bejlek.

While not exactly an unknown commodity (she won the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi title in February, the same month she made her Top-50 debut), Bejlak is having the week of her life here in Cincinnati, where she’s stunned no less than three former Grand Slam champions en route to the first WTA 1000 semifinal of her young career: Countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and 20th seed Madison Keys.

She’s got a knack for the dramatic. Following her 7-6(7), 6-4 upset of the top seed Sabalenka, a match in which she trailed 1-5 in the opening-set tiebreak and 1-4 in the second set, she was left speechless.

“I lost my words,” she told us.

Who could blame her. It was her first time facing a world No. 1. In one of the biggest tennis arenas in the world, the 12,000-seat P&G Stadium Court.

“I just keep believing,” she expounded on Friday after her 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) quarterfinal turnaround against the home-country favorite Keys, the Cincinnati Open titlist in 2019. “I just try to focus on myself, no matter what’s going on on the other side of the court.”

We’re getting to know her game in a hurry: Standing at a diminutive 5-foot-3, the athletic southpaw relies on her high tennis IQ, variety, angles, slice and defensive abilities to outmaneuver her more powerful tourmates. But we’re still getting to know Sara Bejlek the person. Asked to describe her personality, she offered but three words:

“Crazy.”

“Emotional.”

“Careful.”

She sure doesn’t play in a careful manner. Mentored by Jakub Kahoun, Bejlek continues to bolster her self-belief, something that should come in handy when she faces either American Coco Gauff or Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the next round.

“I think it’s been increasing during the season,” she said. “We had a big talk with my team a couple of weeks ago, and since that moment, I feel that it’s going quite well, and I’m getting better at believing in myself and improving on the court.”

Bejlek fast facts

Favorite color: Blue
Favorite food: Pizza
Forehand or backhand: Forehand
Is the tennis ball yellow or green?: Yellow
Favorite animal: Dog
Favorite player of all time: Novak Djokovic