Livesport Prague Open to feature Czech Grand Slam champions
25th June 2022
Some of the biggest stars of the Livesport
Prague Open 2022 will be tournament winners from the 2018 and 2021 editions and
Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitová and Barbora Krejčíková. The line-up of
players also features Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic from Switzerland
and Brazilian player Beatriz Haddad Maia who won two WTA tournaments in June.
The 13th edition of the traditional tournament in the Czech capital
will take place on the concrete tennis courts of the Sparta Prague Tennis Club
between July 25 and 31. It will also host the official farewell of former World
No. 3 in doubles Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková.
“We are pleased that some of the best Czech players will be participating. Their matches are some of the most popular among fans, so after two cancelled editions due to covid-19, we are looking forward to seeing the stands packed with fans once again. Over 30% of the tickets for the main stand with a capacity of two thousand have already been sold,” said tournament director Miroslav Malý.
Czech players Tereza Martincová, Marie Bouzková and Karolína Muchová will also feature alongside Krejčíková and Kvitová. All players participating in the main competition are currently ranked in the Top 100 of the WTA Rankings.
Wild cards will give two Czech players the chance to go straight into the main competition – “Just like we said after her return from Paris, Lucie Havlíčková, the winner of the junior Roland Garros and a member of the Sparta Prague Tennis Club, has ben given a wild card to play,” said Malý. The second wild card was awarded to Linda Nosková as per the decision of the Czech Tennis Association, the main partner of Livesport Prague Open 2022 – “Our long-term strategy is to support Czech tennis players, be it organising domestic tournaments or giving them the opportunity to participate in others to gain experience. That’s why we’ve decided to give a wild card to last year's winner of the junior Roland Garros and a participant of the main competition this year, Linda Nosková,” said the president of the Czech Tennis Association Ivo Kaderka.
This year’s tournament will be special since it will be the last official tournament for Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková. The Olympic silver medallist and two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles will put a full stop behind her tennis career in front of her home crowd, playing in doubles for the very last time with partner Lucie Hradecká. “I don’t know how far we will go in the tournament, but I’m training hard. I’m glad that our first match will be on the centre court at the very start of the tournament. My official farewell will be, regardless of how we play, on Saturday after the semi-finals on the centre court,” said the former World No. 3. The match will be either on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the draw and match program.
Tickets for game days went into sale on Monday, June 6 on the site Ticketportal. Ticket prices for Sunday’s final are the same as for Saturday’s semi-final matches, costing 300 CZK for assigned seating in the stands. Tickets for regular game days from Monday to Friday with unassigned seating are 200 CZK. Matches will be held across three tennis courts within the grounds of the Sparta Prague Tennis Club. Game day tickets are valid for the entire game day and entitle their owner to an unoccupied seat on the main stand of their choosing, of any game of their choosing. An all-day ticket for one day of the qualification weekend is 100 CZK. Each ticket owner is entitled to a guaranteed seat in the stands of the centre court, seating in the stands of courts 1 and 2 will be on a first come, first served basis. The capacity of the stands of the centre court is 1,900. Games are scheduled to start at 11:00, apart from the final which will be played at 13:00.
