Prague, May 25:
There will be no audience and no handshakes with rivals, but Czech players including two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova relishes the prospect of playing a tournament again.
Sports came to a halt in the Czech Republic in mid-March as the coronavirus began to spread while this year’s French Open has been moved to September and Wimbledon cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are here to reintroduce tennis not only to the Czech Republic, but also to the world,” Kvitova told reporters Monday, on the eve of a rare all-Czech competition pitting eight men and eight women in separate draws.
As of Monday, the government has allowed events with up to 300 people, including sports, as the illness’ spread started to slow down with over 300 deaths per 9,000 confirmed cases in the country.
“The hardest thing will be to find the rhythm, we haven’t played a match for a very long time,” said the top-seeded, 30-year-old Kvitova, who faces doubles specialist Barbora Krejcikova in her opening game on Tuesday.
“I hope nobody expects us to play fantastic tennis, because it may happen or it may not,” added the world number twelve, wearing a face mask which, she said, had a good thing about it.
World number three Karolina Pliskova has pulled out of the women’s hardcourt draw as she recovers from a back injury, while 18th-ranked Marketa Vondrousova is getting ready for the final exams at her secondary school. The men’s part will be played on clay. (PTI)
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