Draw sets up opponents for home players, including first-round all-Czech clash
24th July 2022
Saturday’s Livesport Prague Open Draw drew
up the main competition of the WTA tournament in the Czech capital. Seven
participating Czech players were reduced to just six before the tournament even
started, as Petra Kvitová was forced to drop out due to persisting pain in her
left hand. Karolína Muchová and Lucie Havlíčková will face each other in the
first round in an all-Czech duel, with Barbora Krejčíková, last year’s finalist
Tereza Martincová, Marie Bouzková and Linda Nosková also finding out who they
will face.
Nikola Kartusová, the daughter of Barbora
Krejčíková’s coach Aleš Kartus, did the honours, setting up a first-round
all-Czech clash between Karolína Muchová and Lucie Havlíčková. The winner of
this match will move on to face either top seed Anett Kontaveit or Georgian
player Ekaterine Gorgodze.
Second seed Barbora Krejčíková, who won
last year’s tournament, will face Russian player Anna Blinkova, who is ranked
141th on the WTA World Rankings, in the first round. The winner could face Mihaela
Buzărnescu in the following round.
Last year’s finalist Tereza Martincová will
face French player Chloé Paquet, an opponent from the second hundred of the WTA
World Ranking. If Martincová succeeds, she will face the winner of the match
between Sorana Cîrstea and one of the qualifiers.
The two remaining Czech players – Marie
Bouzková and Linda Nosková, still have to wait to find out who they will face,
with both of them being drawn against either a successful qualifier or a lucky
loser of the final round of qualification.
Petra Kvitová and Belinda Bencic have both
dropped out of the tournament.
“Petra experienced persisting pain in her
left hand during this morning’s training session. The pain limits her serves to
such an extent that she can’t participate in the tournament and was forced to
drop out last minute,” said tournament spokesman Karel Tejkal.
The main competition will start this
Monday, with the winner of the Livesport Prague Open earning not only a cheque
for 33,200 USD but also 280 points for the WTA World Rankings. The other
finalist will receive 180 points and 19,750 USD.
