Marketa Vondrousova must follow the example of Elena Rybakina to ensure her shock Wimbledon success results in becoming a top-10 regular, according to Marion Bartoli.
The 24-year-old became the first unseeded player to win the women's singles at Wimbledon with a shock straight sets victory over favourite Ons Jabeur in the final.
Vondrousova had previously reached the French Open final four years ago but had endured a tumultuous period since due to injuries and inconsistent form, while grass was seen as her weakest surface.
Her victory is the latest in a long line of shock major wins in the women's game, with Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu among the others to cause upsets in recent years.
But the lack of a dominant group of players in women's grand slams is not a big concern to Bartoli, who made two Wimbledon finals in her career, winning once.
She has urged the crop of recent major winners, including Vondrousova, to take up the challenge of proving their successes were not flukes.
Bartoli cites the example of 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who is now ranked three in the world and reached the last eight this year before losing out to Jabeur, as one to follow.
"I don't see it as an issue – there is nothing you can do about it," Bartoli, who won Wimbledon in 2013, said to Stats Perform when asked about the recent trend in grand slams.
"I mean, you just can't say to a player, 'Oh, but why don't you win every single grand slam like Serena Williams?' All those [top-ranked] girls are trying their hardest when they're on the court, sometimes they're losing when they should have won, like Ons losing that final.
"But it's not like you can go and say to her 'Oh, yeah, but why don't you try harder?' She tried her heart out on the court and tried absolutely everything to win. It just didn't happen.
"You have new names, some newcomers are coming and winning, it was the same when Raducanu won her first grand slam, it was the same when Andreescu won.
"Now it's Marketa winning her first. It was slightly more of a shocker when Raducanu won because she came from the qualification. That was an even bigger story and then to become this £20million girl that gets all those contracts in the UK. She was into US Open qualifying and then three weeks later she was a mega superstar.
"Was tennis different back then when I was playing? Of course. Then you had 15 or 20 names who were coming back all the time.
"It was extremely difficult just to get yourself inside the top 20 or into the top 10 because you had Serena and Venus, Kim Clijsters and all the Russians, you just didn't have the space.
"But I like those news stories. I like those fairytale stories. I just hope that those girls can now stay there.
"For Marketa [I hope] that she can bring that level constantly so she can be a face in the top 10 and people can come back to Wimbledon next year and say ‘OK, I know her now, she's top five, she has done this, she has this result somewhere’, like Rybakina in some ways.
"Rybakina won last year but she came back this year and she was top three, so it's not like she was a fluke.
"So if those breakthrough girls can now say 'I'm still part of the conversation, I'm coming back and I'm top five or top 10' then we are in for a great WTA Tour."
Vondrousova is the sixth unseeded player to win a grand slam title in the last decade, after Jelena Ostapenko, Sloane Stephens, Iga Swiatek, Barbora Krejcikova and Raducanu.
Bartoli feels it will take a while for the magnitude of her win to sink in, particularly when it was so unexpected. Vondrousova had only won four matches on grass before the tournament.
She added: "It's difficult to actually soak it in that quickly – for me, it took several days, even several weeks to be able to really understand what I just achieved, especially when you win for the first time.
"For Novak [Djokovic] or Roger [Federer] or all those players who have won Wimbledon on multiple occasions, then it almost becomes normal for them. Of course there is the happiness of achieving winning another grand slam, but it's not as much as a big deal as when it's your first one or your first Wimbledon in the case of Carlos Alcaraz.
"Especially for Marketa Vondrousova, being unseeded, it was completely unexpected for her to have that sort of run and being the total outsider in the final and coming out, playing great tennis and winning in straight sets as well.
"At the beginning of the tournament, no one would have thought to put her into the top five or top 10 contenders to go and win the title, and it is even more of a surprise after all the injuries she suffered.
"But all credit to her. She had some really tough matches, when you really have to push yourself that much you absolutely deserve to win your first grand slam title."
Emma Raducanu to make comeback from injury at Auckland event in January
Emma Raducanu will make her comeback at the ASB Classic in Auckland next month.
The 21-year-old has not played a match since a heavy loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart in April. She subsequently withdrew from the Madrid Open and opted to undergo surgery on both wrists and one ankle.
Having initially targeted a comeback in late summer or early autumn, Raducanu has ended up missing the rest of the 2023 season.
Until recently there were doubts over whether she would make the start of next year but those have eased in recent weeks as she has stepped up her training.
And it has now been announced she will play at the WTA tournament in New Zealand beginning on January 1.
It will be Raducanu’s second appearance in Auckland and she will hope it is more positive than her debut in January, when she suffered an ankle injury during her second-round match and retired in tears.
The former US Open champion was able to recover to compete at the Australian Open but opted to undergo a procedure on her ankle to repair the damage in the spring.
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She criticised the “slippery” courts afterwards but has decided to accept a wild card to return.
Raducanu’s ranking has slipped to 296 and she faces a long road back to the top of the game, but it should give her the opportunity to fill in some of the steps she missed out thanks to her giant leap to stardom.
She can use a protected ranking of 103 to enter tournaments because of her long lay-off but that is currently not high enough to earn her a place in the main draw of the Australian Open.
Barring enough withdrawals of higher-ranked players, or a wild card, she will have to go through qualifying at a slam for the first time since her stunning title run in New York in 2021.
Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff, former world number one Caroline Wozniacki and Wimbledon semi-finalist Elina Svitolina are among the other names confirmed for the Auckland tournament.
MLS rivals fortunate Martino and Messi missed playoffs, says Herrera
Gerardo Martino is an excellent man-manager and would have made Inter Miami MLS Cup contenders had a Lionel Messi-inspired Herons been able to gatecrash this year's playoffs.
That is the view of Houston Dynamo midfielder Hector Herrera, who played under the former Barcelona boss when he coached Mexico's national team between 2019 and 2022.
Having guided Atlanta United to the MLS Cup in 2018, Martino became Miami boss in July as the David Beckham-owned franchise brought in former Barcelona trio Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
Those arrivals immediately led to an upturn for Miami, who won the Leagues Cup in August following a series of mesmerising displays from Messi, but they were unable to force their way into the playoffs.
Messi only made four regular-season starts for Miami this year as the Argentina great battled a niggling injury, and the Herons ultimately finished nine points adrift of the Eastern Conference's wild card spots.
Miami will certainly be among the favourites to enjoy a postseason run in 2024, and Herrera feels their rivals were slightly fortunate to see them fall short this campaign.
Asked what makes Martino special as a coach, Herrera told Stats Perform: "I think his personality and the work he does on every team he has.
"That is what has made him win so many things and be so well-known in the world of football.
"Personally, he is a coach who has helped me a lot, I have a great relationship with him and I love the way he plays.
"He has shown it with every team he has had and until today at Inter Miami he gave another face to the team and got better results.
"We knew that if they entered the playoffs, they were going to be one of the favourite teams and were going to compete for the championship."
Herrera fell just short of reaching the MLS Cup Final after the Dynamo were defeated by Los Angeles FC, who will face Columbus Crew following their comeback victory over Supporters' Shield winners FC Cincinnati.
'Winner' Suarez should team up with Messi to grow MLS, says former team-mate Herrera
Luis Suarez's proposed move to Inter Miami would be a suitable fit, with the striker capable of further growing the profile of MLS if he is reunited with Lionel Messi in Florida.
That is according to Suarez's former Atletico Madrid team-mate Hector Herrera, who says the Uruguayan is a "winner" and would face no problems in adapting to the league.
Suarez has been strongly linked with a move to Miami, where Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have all been reunited with former Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino.
Having won LaLiga five times during eight years in Spain with Barca and Atleti, Suarez returned to his boyhood club Nacional in 2022 before heading to Brazil to join Gremio for 2023.
Reports suggest Suarez may join Miami as a free agent after Gremio coach Renato Gaucho confirmed he is set to depart on Saturday, and Herrera believes MLS would be the perfect destination for the 36-year-old.
"Hopefully he can come to this league and help it continue to grow," the Houston Dynamo midfielder, who played with Suarez in Madrid between 2020 and 2022, told Stats Perform.
"With the quality of player he is and as a person, he will surely help any team that he comes to. It would be a pleasure to see him and face him again.
"He has played in many leagues, in many teams, and I don't think it will be difficult for him to adapt because he is a winner.
"Obviously we know that he will contribute a lot to the team that he goes to, and to the whole league as well."
Suarez leads all Gremio players for goals (15) and assists (12) in the Brazilian top flight this season, with the team currently sitting in fourth after winning promotion back to the first tier last year.
Herrera feels he would be a real asset for Miami, who won the first trophy in their history in August as Messi led them to glory in the Leagues Cup.
Asked about the prospect of Suarez teaming up with Messi, Herrera said: "I have no doubt that he could go to that team because I know that they are great friends and their families have a good relationship.
"It makes sense for him to come to Inter Miami. Messi's arrival gave another face and another perspective to the league and will help it grow.
"We are talking about the current winner of the Ballon d'Or and it is a pleasure to have him in the league, to be able to face him and make MLS continue to grow.
"We have seen the level that he has shown since he arrived, and surely next year will be even better."
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