Prague hosts a unique newly concluded tournament Women’s Tennis World Cup, formerly Fed Cup,

The final tournament was originally supposed to be played on clay in Budapest, but last year it was canceled due to coronavirus, this year first postponed in May, the Hungarian capital gave up the event.

The peak of the season for Krejčíková?

There are two types of tennis players. One team loves competitions, the other is not responsible for playing for someone other than themselves. Krejčíková is the first type, in the fall of 2018 rushed selflessly as a substitute for the finals with the US from a vacation in Dubai.

To this day, she has the goosebumps of remembering how she only cheered on the bench at the time and heard the raging O2 arena. Today, the biggest star of the Czech team is also the whole event for the twelve best teams on the planet, to which she invites her face from posters. It’s Messi or Ronaldo world tennis championshipas the ITF now sells the BJK Cup.

“I think it will be my top,” admits Krejčíková, who was just looking forward to finally peeking into the top 100 rankings last year. Now is Grand Slam champion in singles, Olympic doubles winner, the biggest candidate in the Czech Athlete of the Year 2021. He goes to the national tournament head on and does not solve at all that he torpedoes his chance for a lucrative champion, who starts next week on Wednesday in Gualadajara, Mexico at an altitude of 1566 meters, where he will not play in the hall, but in the open unusual pressureless tennis shoes.

Apologies from the participants of the Champions Tournament

No other tennis star who qualified in the single dared to compete in this duel. Karolína Plíšková, Aryna Sabalenková, Garbina Muguruzaová or Paula Badosaová – They all apologized. However, Krejčíková wants to find out something that I may never have to experience in the current system.

The finals of the team competition in front of home spectators. Today, her ideas of what it will be like to end in front of the roaring hall end. “I have goosebumps, I’ll just remember that. I hope I can do it on the court then, because I’m already thinking about it and my legs are shaking, “she said recently. He bravely goes to the market with the skin as a new Czech tennis star who can only lose. It is ungrateful to follow the last decade, during which the Czechs won the title six times and were unbeatable in the O2 arena in all five previous matches. Krejčíková has little experience with the Fed Cup.

In the spring of 2019, Lucie Šafářová’s assistant in farewell farewell to Canada (4: 0), the only sharp match of the same year, lost very painfully alongside Kateřina Siniaková, when as the world number one they failed to dominate the doubles with Romanians Begu and Niculescu. Moreover, now the Czech group D, from which, like the others, only the winners will advance to the next, is the strongest of them all.

Czech “death group”

A death group, that’s what it’s called. Krejčík is facing a clash with the three-time Grand Slam champion and the former world champion today Angelique Kerber (12th at the WTA), on Thursday she will be looking at the sword with her Olympic conqueror and gold from Tokyo Belinda Bencicova (8th WTA). These are exactly the three highest ranked players in Prague.

Left-handed German Kerber got into great shape after a lousy start of the year, winning 20 of the last 25 matches. “I’ve never played with Barbara, but I think it will be an interesting match. She is a great player, she won a grand slam this year. He knows what it’s like to play under pressure, “Kerber said diplomatically.

German Captain Rainer Schüttler however, he tried to sow the seed of doubt in the head of the Czech number one. “We have essential, we are not domestic, there is no pressure on us. It’s always harder to play at home, “he said. On Saturday, however, only 60 percent of the total capacity of 12,000 seats was sold for Czech matches. The line-up for today’s match must be reported up to an hour before the match, which will not start until 17.00.

But the duel is expected to open the duel of doubles Markéta Vondroušová and Andrey Petkovicová. Then comes Krejčíková for a while, followed by the final doubles. Even in the case of failure, this is not the end of hope, although… “It is possible to advance even in the event of one defeat, but we probably all know this from football, as is sometimes the case. We definitely want to start a winning match against Germany, “says Captain Pála.

Tickets have been on sale since September, but there are still a few vacancies for Czech team matches. If you want to have a certain place, you can buy four-day package including entry to all matches of basic groups. Tickets for individual days are on sale from CZK 890, tickets for Saturday’s finals can be purchased from CZK 1,190, and four-day prices starting at CZK 1,960.

At that moment, it was long clear that the original Hungarian hosts would withdraw from the contract at the time of the covid, and the newly renamed Fed Cup threatened not to take place for the second year in a row. However, Krejčíková triumphed and Kaderka began to act. He received a promise of 65 million crowns from the Czech government, and the Czechs saved a competition that no one was interested in existing. The new venue was definitely announced at the end of August

The most successful team in history is the Americans, who have won the competition eighteen times, most recently in 2017. However, the best team of the new millennium is the Czechs, who have had six triumphs since 2011. All acquired under the leadership of Captain Petr Pála, who became the most successful captain in the Fed Cup.