1. Beijing breakthrough: The 20-year-old Czech has reached the semifinals on her Beijing debut, defeating Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Muchova in just her fourth career WTA 1000 appearance. She’ll face Mirra Andreeva, who defeated her in the third round in this year’s US Open, for a spot in the final.
2. Top 10 success: Bartunkova has earned her first three Top 10 wins in 2026, starting with Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open, snapping the Swiss’s 12-match losing streak. Beijing marks the first time she has defeated two Top 10 players at the same tournament. Her first Top 10 win came at this year’s Australian Open, when she toppled Belinda Bencic after qualifying for the main draw in what was her Grand Slam main draw debut.
3. Rankings rocket: Bartunkova has climbed to a career-high No. 28 in the live rankings, an incredible rise from No. 126 at the start of this year’s Australian Open. As the WTA points out in a feature written this week, she was No.517 in the world a mere 18 months ago.
4. Overcoming adversity: Bartunkova served a six-month backdated doping suspension in 2024 after testing positive for trimetazidine. The ITIA accepted that a contaminated supplement was responsible and determined she bore “no significant fault or negligence.” She returned to school and graduated during her time away from tennis.
5. Grand Slam consistency: She has reached the third round at three of the four majors in 2026 — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. She went 6-4 in her first season at the majors, with three Top 50 wins.
6. Junior standout: Bartunkova reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 8 and was runner-up in the Wimbledon girls’ singles final in 2023. She also played the Roland Garros girls semifinal in 2022.
7. Tennis in the family: Born in Prague, Bartunkova was introduced to tennis by her father, Pavel Bartunek, a tennis coach who remains part of her coaching team. Her sister also played tennis.
8. Creative flair: An admirer of Roger Federer, Carlos Alcaraz and fellow Czech Petra Kvitova, Bartunkova loves mixing things up with drop shots, volleys and net approaches. “I really admire Carlos Alcaraz, I love watching his matches,” she says. “And of course, Nadal and Federer have always been my role models.” But don’t sleep on Bartunkova’s power. She’s developed her punch as well over the last year, and has built her body up to generate power and consistency from the baseline.
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