Prague: World No. 12 Petra Kvitova won the women’s title at the Czech Open tennis tournament which ended here Thursday. She was wearing the same dress she would have used for the French Open. However, Petra Kvitova said that she was just happy again to be back on court. The sports world is slowly returning to normal and Kvitova hoped that many more such tournament will be played in the near future.
The Prague tournament was played among the top Czech men’s and women’s players but without fans. The ball boys and girls were seen wearing gloves and face masks. The tournament was one of the first after professional tennis was suspended in early March. This was because the world went into lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.
More tournaments are planned elsewhere. Some exhibition events without fans have already been played in countries such as Germany and the United States.
The French Open was originally set to take place this week, but now has been postponed. Kvitova wore the clothing collection she had ready for the season’s second Grand Slam.
“If there will be the French Open, then Nike has something else for me,” Kvitova, twice Wimbledon champion, said. “I played better every day, so that is very positive,” she added on her return to action.
The Prague event was missing world number three Karolina Pliskova and last year’s French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova.
That left Kvitova to take on Karolina Muchova, ranked 26th in the world. In the final they tapped rackets instead of hands when the match ended.
Kvitova did not drop a set in the three-round tournament, beating Muchova 6-3, 6-3 in a rain-delayed match at the Czech capital. She last played at the Qatar Open in February where she lost in the final to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
In the men’s draw, 20-year-old Michael Vrbensky beat Zdenek Kolar 6-4 6-7(5-7) 10-8. The 405th ranked Vrbensky had beaten top seed Jiri Vesely, ranked 65th, in the first round.
Agencies