Five things to know about Linda Noskova, the Czech teen who beat Swiatek

MELBOURNE -- With her unreadable serve and inscrutable game face, 19-year-old Linda Noskova tallied the upset of the Australian Open on Saturday night, defeating World No.1 Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round. 

Here's what you need to know about the Czech, ranked 50th in the world, who became the first teenager in nearly 15 years to beat a World No.1 at a Grand Slam.

She grew up idolizing Serena Williams

Noskova is part of the Czech Republic's seemingly endless supply of talent, but it was 23-time major champion Serena Williams who left the biggest impression on her as she pursued a career in professional tennis. 

"Serena Williams is my biggest idol from the very beginning, so I'm trying to go in her path," Noskova said last year. In fact, when Noskova got the opportunity to share the court with Serena in a doubles match at the US Open in 2022, Noskova cited the experience as the best moment of her career at the time. 

Read: 'A dream come true': Noskova ready to make her move

Not that she didn't have any homegrown idols to look to. She mentions two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former doubles No.1 Barbora Strycova as her biggest Czech influences. 

With a population of 10.5 million, the Czech Republic has punched well above its weight class throughout tennis history, producing great champions like Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova. And it continues to do so. The country has produced a new major champion in two of the last three years, with Barbora Krejcikova winning 2021 Roland Garros and Marketa Vondrousova lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon last summer. 

Noskova is part of a quartet of Czech teenagers already making inroads on the Hologic WTA Tour, along with Linda Fruhvirtova, 18, Sara Beljek, 17, and Brenda Fruhvirtova, 16. Noskova is the second of the four to advance to the second week at a Slam, following the elder Fruhvirtova's fourth-round run here last year.

She was a junior French Open champion

Armed with a big serve and powerful baseline game, Noskova didn't always love to play on clay. But that changed in 2021 when she won the Roland Garros girls' title, beating Erika Andreeva in the final. 

In fact, until this week, Roland Garros remained her signature Slam. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut there in 2022 and took reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu to three sets. 

But Noskova has remained a steady threat on hard courts, particularly in Australia. Ranked outside of the Top 100 last year, she made her first WTA final as a qualifier in Adelaide. And she did it in dramatic fashion, saving match points in two different matches to beat Daria Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka. She then posted her first Top 10 win over Ons Jabeur in the semifinals before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

In Adelaide, she left a big impression on eventual Australian Open champion Sabalenka.

"I mean, you can feel that she isn't really afraid of us," Sabalenka said then. "She just plays her game. No matter what, she just plays her game.

"I didn't feel today that she's getting tight and she's going to give me easy points. I felt like I have to win this match. That impressed me a lot."

She was nominated for Most Improved Player last year

After starting outside the Top 100 last year, Noskova went on to finish the year at No.41. A few months after her breakout run in Adelaide, she made a second final, in Prague. She scored her second Top 10 win after that, beating one of her idols, Kvitova, on the hard courts in Cincinnati. 

The tour took notice. She was nominated for the WTA's Most Improved Player at the end of the season. She lost out to another teenager making waves at this year's Australian Open: Mirra Andreeva. 

She's still a work in progress

Noskova's raw abilities are easy to see. Her aggressive game plan is backed up by a solid forehand and backhand that she can place deep in the court or at angles. But Noskova says she's still raw. 

"I'm trying to find my technique," she said after her first-round win in Melbourne. "I'm still kind of young and I never really had clean technique. I'm always trying to find my forehand or backhand at each tournament. 

"So it's sometimes hard to trust my game. But the more matches I have the easier it is to find."

Her serve has been the focus of her improvement, and it showed against Swiatek. arguably the best returner in the game. Swiatek breaks serve nearly in every other return game. But facing down Noskova, she managed to break just twice. Noskova also credits the fitness work she did in her preseason.

"I feel a little faster, which is good," she said. "I feel I can play longer rallies and longer games so I don't have to hold back so that I'm not tired after a set and a half. 

"It's a great feeling that you can run around the court freely."

Her cool demeanor is her secret weapon

Serving to knock out the dominant World No.1 on Saturday night, Noskova suddenly found herself down 0-30. Two days earlier, Swiatek had engineered a remarkable comeback from 4-1 down to upend Danielle Collins. The murmurs on press row told the story: surely, the teenager was going to get tight.

Noskova did not blink. She refocused, found her first serve and won the next four points and the match. Only when she crouched to the ground in tears did it become clear just how much it all meant to her. 

Noskova says her poker face comes naturally. 

"I don't work on it at all, it's just part of me," she said. "I'm just really happy to be like that. Not really emotional even after wins or losses. That's great.

"But sometimes people are like, 'Does it mean anything to you?'

"I'm like, 'Yeah, it does, but I'm just not showing it.'"