Australian rising star to make top-100 debut despite final defeat

Olivia Gadecki has gone down fighting in her maiden WTA singles final to end a career-best week that will propel the emerging Australian inside the top 100 for the first time.

Poland’s Magdalena Frech proved too steady for qualifier Gadecki in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory in the Guadalajara Open final in Mexico after almost two hours of gripping tennis, as she became the ninth first-time titlist on the WTA Tour this year.

Olivia Gadecki in action in the final in Guadalajara.Credit: Gdl Open/ImagenShop

Gadecki was true to herself in the final, blasting 29 winners to Frech’s 11 and playing with her usual aggressive style from the get-go, including some first-class volleying – but also committed 34 unforced errors to 19.

Several of those errors came in a loose final game that proved the 22-year-old’s undoing after she had just played a superb return game to keep Frech from serving the match out. However, she demonstrated all the ability that has good judges, including former world No.1 Ash Barty, tipping her for stardom.

“Magda played amazing, I thought – she played solid – and I came out playing pretty well, but didn’t feel I was striking the ball as well as these last couple of days, so I thought I had to problem-solve a little more today,” Gadecki said.

“I unfortunately didn’t do a very good job [of that], but she’s got a lot of experience, and I think that’s what got her across the line today.

Gadecki has shot up the rankings this past week.Credit: Gdl Open/ImagenShop

“There are a lot [of positives], and I’m trying not to be too down about the loss, but I think that just comes with the job. There’s always going to be a loser, and there’s only one winner at the end of the week, but I’m very proud of myself and proud I’ve come this far.”

Gadecki started in Guadalajara qualifying with a ranking of No.152 but ended the week with victories over 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins, former world No.18 Martina Trevisan and 80th-ranked Camila Osorio.

She was attempting to become the first qualifier this year to win a WTA 500 tournament, but the reward for her breakout week is a career-high ranking of No.88, which makes her Australia’s top-ranked woman.

Gadecki, who is set to make the Australian Open main draw off her own ranking for the first time, said she was “very hungry” for more.

“It’s such an amazing feeling and nothing can really come close to that feeling. To have just a taste of it this week is really exciting,” she said.

“I’m really looking forward to going back to the drawing board and improving and continuing to learn, and being the best possible version of myself.”

Gadecki has endured her share of challenges to this point, quitting the sport for about 18 months as a highly promising teenager and confiding to this masthead that even this year she had “second-guessed” herself and “been in a bit of a hole”.

The London-based young gun, who hails from the Gold Coast, will take home more than $130,000 for her efforts.

Each player staved off two break points across the opening three games of the match – setting the tone for a competitive contest of contrasting styles – but neither relented as the first set went to a tie-break.

The first five points went to the returner, and it was still up for grabs at five-all before consecutive Gadecki errors handed Frech a one-set advantage after 73 minutes.

Gadecki came out blazing in the second set to storm to a 2-0 lead, only for the Pole – who will rise 11 spots to a career-high No.32 – to win five of the next six games to earn a shot at serving for the title.

The Australian dug in her heels and refused to relent, mixing patience with controlled aggression to force her way back into the match. Gadecki throttled a crosscourt forehand to bring up break-back point, then pumped her fist as a Frech backhand sailed long.

It proved only a short stay of execution.

“I just want to say that dreams do come true. It’s my first WTA title, and it’s really, really amazing,” Frech said.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, for sure. I want to congratulate Olivia for such a great week, such a great run, and to your team back home.”

Seven years ago, Olivia Gadecki quit tennis. Now she’s Australia’s top-ranked woman

Olivia Gadecki will gatecrash the world’s top 100 and become Australia’s top-ranked women’s player as reward for making her maiden WTA singles final.

The 22-year-old from the Gold Coast – earmarked by Ash Barty as a future star – started last week ranked No. 152 before cutting down some of the biggest names in tennis in a career-defining performance.

Into the final: Olivia Gadecki.Credit: Gdl Open/ImagenShop

She quit the sport seven years ago, but paid tribute to former world No.1 Barty after her semi-final win at the Guadalajara Open for helping her get through that “overwhelming” period.

Gadecki beat Colombian Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday morning (AEST) to replace Daria Saville as Australia’s top-ranked woman and cap an extraordinary week in Mexico that has turbocharged her career.

Armed with a powerful serve and forehand, she already upset 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins and former world No.18 Martina Trevisan to reach the semi-finals.

“I was literally just coming here wanting to give myself the best chance of having a great week,” Gadecki said.

“I’ve shown up every day and enjoyed the battle and the opportunities, and I really can’t quite believe that I’m in the final.

“I knew that I had potential in my game, and that I had more to give. I just felt like I was stuck at that 150 [ranking] bracket for a little while, and couldn’t quite break it. I knew if I kept showing up and doing the right things and believing in myself – believing in myself is the massive thing – that it would eventually come.

“I’m really, really proud of myself that I’ve kept hanging in there, and giving myself the chance.”

Gadecki is coached by Andy Murray’s father-in-law, Nigel Sears, who previously worked with WTA top-liners Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Amanda Coetzer, Emma Raducanu and Anett Kontaveit.

She had never won a WTA main draw match outside Australia until the past week, and had to qualify for the Guadalajara tournament just to get her shot.

Former world No.1 Ash Barty is a big believer in Gadecki.Credit:

A self-confessed nerve-riddled Gadecki dropped serve at 4-1 in the second set before twice brushing off break-back points while serving for the match against Osorio, and is now up to a career-high No.88 in the live rankings.

She will rise inside the top 60 if she can win the final over 43rd-ranked Pole Magdalena Frech, who stunned French former world No.4 Caroline Garcia 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in the other semi-final.

Gadecki in action in the semi-final.Credit: Gdl Open/ImagenShop

Mexico has been a happy hunting ground for Australians, with Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson winning ATP singles titles there this year.

“This week’s been a special one, and to be top 100 is pretty amazing, and something I’ve strived for my whole career,” Gadecki said. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s crazy – I can’t quite believe it.”

Gadecki, who has Ukrainian heritage, is also all but certain to be a grand slam main draw entrant off her own ranking for the first time at next year’s Australian Open.

Her new status is a long way removed from her decision to walk away from the sport as a teenager.

“I quit for about a year and a half when I was 15, so [halfway through] year 10 in school because I was very overwhelmed with all the travel and schoolwork, and I was really struggling mentally,” Gadecki said.

‘It does come off as a glamorous life, and if you do get to the top, it really is, but behind the scenes, it’s a lot of sacrifice being made, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears.’

Australian star Olivia Gadecki

“I just thought, ‘I’m going to finish school’, and give myself the opportunity to study if I wanted to. But once I finished school, I felt like this weight off my shoulders.

“In tennis, you have only a little time, so I really wanted to give it the best possible chance, and do it on my terms. For the first time, I felt like I was doing that when I came back.”

Former world No.1 Barty, who also quit tennis as a teenager, was critical in Gadecki’s journey back to the sport, although the timing was unfortunate. Gadecki graduated from high school in 2019, then broke into the junior world top 100 shortly after, only for the COVID-19 pandemic to halt the world.

She also chose not to be vaccinated, which ruled her out from playing in the 2022 Australian Open and the rest of the lead-in tournaments.

Barty stood by Gadecki during that period and remains a close friend.

“I always wanted to be a professional tennis player and the best in the world, but I never quite knew what it entailed, like, what sort of training, what sort of sacrifice, even just financially – all that sort of stuff,” Gadecki said.

“To have someone like Ash in my corner from the get-go, or even just at the start of my career, was really a massive eye-opener.

“She just made it very comfortable because it was very overwhelming ... and for me to be able to go to her and talk about those things, and even just be around her when she was doing pre-season, [and see] what hard work looks like, and be a part of that environment, was truly amazing and really helped.”

Barty also credited Gadecki with helping revive her own career, which included three grand slam singles titles.

Gadecki qualified for her first Wimbledon main draw this year.Credit: Getty Images for LTA

“Liv brings genuine life into Australian tennis. She is the one who injected oxygen back into my pre-seasons and my career, and I know she has had a unique journey, herself,” Barty said last year.

“Now, I can see it in her eyes that she has got the hunger and the desire, and it is about her now putting her head down and finding the ways to enjoy it and keep it alive and keep it fun.”

Gadecki has enjoyed her best season in 2024, reaching a $US100,000 ($150,000) final in Pennsylvania before the US Open, and the semi-finals of a tournament at the same level ahead of Wimbledon, where she qualified for the first time.

She also competed at the Olympics in Paris, a highlight after battling through the WTA Tour grind and absorbing plenty of first-round defeats while coming through.

“It does come off as a glamorous life, and if you do get to the top, it really is, but behind the scenes, it’s a lot of sacrifice being made, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Gadecki said.

“There’s been moments this year when I’ve really second-guessed myself and been in a bit of a hole, in a way, and I’m really quite proud of the fact that I’ve been able to get myself out of those situations.”

Gadecki will be the sole Australian in the top 100 in the next WTA rankings update, in stark contrast to the 10 on the men’s side – but there is genuine momentum building among the country’s women.

In the past week, Emerson Jones, a 16-year-old sensation also from the Gold Coast, became Australia’s first junior world No.1 since Jelena Dokic in 1998.

There is also significant excitement about American-born Maya Joint, whose father grew up in Melbourne, and Perth young guns Taylah Preston and Talia Gibson. All three are within striking distance of the top 100.

Daria Saville and triple major quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic have suffered a series of injuries in recent years, on top of Barty’s second retirement after her 2022 Australian Open triumph, and 2011 US Open winner Sam Stosur also departing the sport.

“It was one of my goals this year to end the year in the top 100, and I also wanted to get in all the slams off my ranking,” Gadecki said.

“It’s an amazing achievement, and I think I can really do some damage. The [Australian] men are doing amazing, and it’s so great to see … I really hope that myself making top 100 can really just show that it’s possible.

“The Aussie girls, we’ve got some amazing players, and they can do it. I’m really looking forward to what this could do for Aussie tennis – Aussie women’s tennis, really.”

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