06.06.2015 08:58:48 | Jiří Veselý has advanced to the finals of the UniCredit Czech Open for the third time in a row. He lost to Štěpánek in 2013 and he defeated Norbert Gombos last year. “My goal was to make it through to the finals for the third time in a row. Nobody has ever made it yet. I’m really happy for it and I’ll try to defend the title. I will really enjoy the finals," said the forty-first player in the world after beating Uladzimir Ignatik in a hard match. “It has definitely been my best match at the tournament. I was much more relaxed. Up to the semi-finals, I was the favourite and I was expected to win and advance to the final matches. The last match was different. I played quite well in the second and the third set. "
His opponent in the finals will be twenty-year old Laslo Djere of Serbia (247th in ATP) who defeated Joao Souza of Brazil in a marathon match. The players will meet for the first time. How did Laslo Djere of Serbia advance to the finals? On his twentieth birthday, he first defeated Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland (285th ATP), then the first seeded Martin Kližan of Slovakia (36th ATP) in the second round, knocked off his native Dusan Lajovic (67th in ATP) in the quarter finals, and finally Souza of Spain (78th in ATP) in the semi-finals.
What did the tournament director Petra Černošková say about the finals? “I believed that Jiří Veselý would make it through to the finals from the very beginning. He made it and it’s very important for the tournament. On the other hand, few expected Laslo Djere to be his opponent in the finals. However, our youth coaches know him very well: he was a member of our youth team and helped them to win the Czech title in 2003. He has played spirited tennis all week. Except for the first round against Laaksonen, he always needed three sets to advance.“ Djere’s this year’s greatest success was at the Casablanca Challenger in mid-January at which he advanced to the semi-finals. He only surpassed the result at the 22nd edition of the UniCredit Czech Open at which he made it through to the finals.
