There will be no Czech quarterfinals at the tennis tournament in St. Petersburg. The sixth seed Petra Kvitová lost in the second round to Irina Camelia Begu from Romania 4: 6 and 0: 6 and did not join Tereza Martincová, who advanced to the top eight without a fight.
The two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitová managed a smooth opening duel in St. Petersburg, where she started for the first time since the elimination in the first round of the Australian Open, but she did not add any further success.
She could not lean against Begu for service and the Romanian lost for the first time in her career, in the second set she even got a “canary”. In the previous five mutual matches, she has lost only a hundred with the currently 56th player in the world.
The third deployed Jelena Rybakinová from Kazakhstan, who did not start the second round due to illness, facilitated the Martincovers’ progress. The Czech tennis player, who ranks 42nd in the WTA rankings, will play with Begu for the second time. In 2019 in Tashkent, she defeated her in three sets.
Lehečka surprised again
At the tournament in Rotterdam, tennis player Jiří Lehečka defied the paperwork in the second round and advanced to the quarterfinals during his debut in the main competition on the ATP Tour.
After the world twelve, Canadian Denis Shapoval, the 20-year-old Czech also managed the Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp from the position of the 137th player in the world, and after a turn he defeated him 1: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4.
Lehečka started badly against the 51st player of the ranking and lost the service three times in the first set. However, the second decided for himself after a break in the seventh game and also started the decisive set by winning the opponent’s serve.
In the end, he hesitated again, but immediately he also managed a break and turned his first swordfish during his own service. He will compete for the semifinals with his Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti (63rd in the ATP rankings).
The success of qualifying was already a success for Lehečka in Rotterdam, thanks to which he was able to play in an elite tour for the first time. The native of Mladá Boleslav celebrated his debut on the big stage at the Australian Open in January, which is officially listed under the banner of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Women’s Tennis Tournament in St. Petersburg (hard surface, $ 703,580 grant):
Singles – Round 2: Beguová (Rum.) – Kvitová (6-CZ) 6: 4, 6: 0, Martincová (CZ) – Rybakinová (3-Kaz.) Without a fight.
Rotterdam men’s tennis tournament (hard surface, subsidy 1,349,070 euros):
Singles – Round 2: Лехечка (ČR) – Van De Zandschulp (Niz.) 1:6, 6:4, 6:4.
