MADRID -- Sara Bejlek grew up idolizing Petra Kvitova's big-hitting baseline power game. But the 18-year-old Czech admits she was hoping she'd grow up to be a bit taller. After she topped off height-wise, Bejlek went looking for another player to emulate.
She picked a pretty good one.
"[Kvitova and I] are both from the same country and we're both lefties," Bejlek told reporters after her 6-3, 6-1 win over Ashlyn Krueger in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
"I still didn't know that I'm going to be so small, that I'm not going to play her game. So Rafa and Petra were my idols."
Bejlek didn't know it yet, but that combo would set the perfect tone for her run to a first WTA 1000 Round of 16. Ranked No.136 at the start of the week, Bejlek earned her WTA 1000 main-draw debut after a successful qualifying campaign. She proceeded to knock out Anna Blinkova, Anna Kalinskaya and Krueger, all at the venue Kvitova dominated for three titles in 2011, 2015 and 2018.
"Surprised, yeah maybe a little bit," Bejlek said. "But my team is telling me I can play tennis, that I can be on the best level, and we'll see where I'm going to be and how long I'm going to be there. But I have to focus on my game, on my physical and psychological stuff, and we will see."
Bejlek is one of a cadre of talented Czech teenagers making their way onto the highest levels of the Hologic WTA Tour. She first picked up a racquet at her father's urging. He was a soccer referee who was teaching tennis in her village, and one day he gave her a racquet.
"I just played," Beljek said. "I tried other sports like football, because he played football. My mom also played sports, so I played a lot of sports. But I finished at tennis."
As Linda Noskova, Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova, as well as non-Czech teenagers like Mirra Andreeva and Coco Gauff -- who finally left the teenage ranks in March -- made a name for themselves, Bejlek was still chasing her Top 100 debut.
Her workmanlike effort began to pay off last year. After successfully qualifying for the Australian Open and French Open, Bejlek won three titles on the ITF Circuit before winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA 125K in Colina, Chile.
Bejlek rejected any idea that she's lagging behind her peers.
"I was pretty fast at [the transition], because I played juniors and then straight into women's and I won my second or third tournament in women's," Bejlek said. "So I was pretty fast and that's good and I'm happy for that that I haven't played [many] 15Ks, 25Ks and I straight played bigger tournaments."
This week in Madrid, Bejlek posted the first two Top 50 victories of her career, beating Blinkova and Dubai finalist Kalinskaya. The run moves her ever closer to her Top 100 debut, but she faces one of the toughest tests in tennis in the next round: World No.4 Elena Rybakina.
"I've never played against a player like this," Bejlek said, "but I will try my best and we'll see how it will go tomorrow. But I'm looking forward to that match."
Coming off her title run in Stuttgart last week, Rybakina has looked at ease and in control through her first two matches in Madrid. She advanced to the Round of 16 on Sunday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Mayar Sherif.
"I think we played really well in the whole match," Rybakina said, "Despite the score, it was a very tough match. It was a lot of deuces and we both fought a lot. I'm really happy with the performance today."
Rybakina battled to a 5-0 lead in the first set, though Sherif kept the games close. The Egyptian advanced to the third round after winning back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
Sherif saved six break points in the second game of the match before Rybakina finally broke through for a 2-0 lead. Ultimately, Sherif's grinding baseline game proved no match for Rybakina. The World No.4 smartly attacked the net to stay aggressive and shorten points, and her finishing was clinical.
The victory is Rybakina's tour-leading 28th win of the season. She has not lost before the quarterfinal stage just once this season.
