Nosková eliminated Cornetová in Prague, Krejčíková dropped out and Hlaváčková said goodbye
Update: 28/07/2022 22:24
Issued by: 28/07/2022, 17:34
Prague – The 17-year-old tennis player Linda Nosková Livesport promptly defeated fifth seed Alizé Cornet from France 7:5, 1:6, 7:6 for the Prague Open tournament, and Barbora Krejčíková and Lucie Havlíčková became the only Czech to qualify for the quarterfinals today. While Nosková celebrates the first promotion among the best eight players of the WTA tournament in her career, Krejčíková lost the chance to defend last year’s title after losing to the Japanese Nao Hibinová 6:3, 6:7, 3:6. Havlíčková lost to world number two Anett Kontaveitová from Estonia 4:6, 3:6.
The winner of last year’s junior Roland Garros, Nosková, will meet Hibinová, the 251st player in the world, in the next duel. Among the Czech players, Marie Bouzková continues in the tournament, who will challenge Russia’s Oksana Selechmeteva in the semi-finals on Friday.
The pair of Lucie Hradecká and Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková finished in the quarterfinals of the doubles. The duo H+H lost to the British-Japanese couple Samantha Murray, Mija Kato in fifty-five minutes 3:6, 1:6. Sestini Hlaváčková, who played the tournament as a farewell to her career, thus played her final match.
Coach Tomáš Krupa’s protégé Nosková went for the victory of her life against the 38th player in the world Cornet in the opening set, which she won in the end. The quarter-finalist at the last Wimbledon, where she ended the winning streak of world number one Iga Šwiateková, but came knocking, dominated the second set and forced a third set.
In it, each tennis player lost serve once and the match came to a shortened game. In it, Nosková, the 112th player in the world, played 0:2, but to the delight of the audience, she played a tie-break with six balls in a row and had four match points at her disposal. But Cornetová did not give up this time either, she turned everyone away and did the same with the fifth match point for a score of 6:7. It was only when Nosková forced a sixth chance to end the match that she capitulated.
“In the adults, it’s definitely my biggest victory in my career. I won some tournaments, but it was the ITF. This is the WTA, that’s why I value this game the most. Moreover, it’s against a player from the top 100, which I haven’t done yet.” said Nosková at the press conference.
The duel between Krejčíková and Hibinová, the two-time winner of last year’s French Open, was marked by lost serves for a long time. The 26-year-old native of Brno lost serve twice in the beginning, but thanks to three breaks he took the lead. At the end of the first set, she broke the Japanese opponent’s serve once more and converted the third set point.
Krejčíková had two more breaks in the second set. At 5:3, she served to win the match, but did not take the chance. She did not end the game even later when the opponent was serving at 6:5 and did not have a single match point. In the shortened game, the Japanese woman succeeded after the third used set point (7:5).
The decision was made in the eighth game of the third set, after Hibinová won a break at 5:3. During her serve, Krejčíková had four break point opportunities, but failed again. The defending champion used only 7 of 22 break chances in the match and made eight double faults.
“I’m sorry that I’m not continuing, and I’ll look forward to next year,” said Krejčíková, after which she couldn’t help but cry. “I think that the stumbling block was the service. It was not optimal and in important moments it did not hold me as I wanted. That sometimes happens. I keep going,” added Krejčíková.
Seventeen-year-old Havlíčková reached the second round on the WTA circuit for the first time in her career. She is separated by 785 places in the ranking from Kontaveitova, the finalist of last year’s Tournament of Champions, but she had a fighting start. But she lost her serve in the third game, while the native of Tallinn did not hesitate.
Also in the second set, Havlíčková was not intimidated by the favorite. Not even a lost serve in the beginning broke her, and she immediately returned Kontaveit’s break. In the third game, she avoided three break points and continued to keep pace with the second player in the world. However, Kontaveitová broke the Czech junior’s serve again at 3:3, she did not miss the chance and after an hour and 14 minutes she celebrated progressing to the top eight.
“I have to say that so many people didn’t congratulate me after the loss. That’s new,” Havlíčková said with a smile at the press conference. “My impressions of the match are good. I’m sorry that I lost, but it was extremely difficult to win. Basically, it was impossible. I take only the best from the match,” added the talented tennis player.
Sestini Hlaváčková played the last match of her successful career. The thirty-five-year-old tennis player and former world number three in doubles with her great partner Hradecka, who won two Grand Slam titles or silver from the Olympics in London, was eliminated in the quarterfinals. In the duel against Murray and Kato, the Czechs did not record a single break. After the match, the fans rewarded Hlaváčková with applause,
“I am very happy that we finally finished it in the dark today. I think we experienced it with a nice feeling,” said Hlaváčková. Yes, we lost, but there is still something to celebrate. We started the tournament with a beautiful match on Monday and ended it today. I thank Lucca once again for going ahead and sacrificing the tournament even with the vision that I won’t be completely ready. I think we’re fine in the end,” she added.
The official farewell ceremony for the winner of 27 doubles tournaments takes place on Saturday.
Women’s tennis tournament Livesport Prague Open
(hard surface, grant $251,750):
Singles – 2nd round:
Hibinová (Japan) – Krejčíková (2-CR) 3:6, 7:6 (7:5), 6:3, Kontaveitová (1-Est.) – Havlíčková (Czech Republic) 6:4, 6:3, Potapova (7-Russia) – Chu Lin (China) 6:4, 7:6 (10:8), Noskova (CZ) – Cornetová (5-Fr.) 7:5, 1:6, 7:6 (9:7).
Doubles – Quarterfinals:
Katová, Murray (3-Japan/Britain) – Hradecka, Sestini Hlaváčková (Czech Republic) 6:3, 6:1.