29.05.2017 18:15:21 | What were the beginnings of the Prostějov Tournament? 1994, DDM Sports Centre, the ATP organizers did not have much trust from public."We had doubts whether we were able to organize the tournament at all. In the end, our challenger was evaluated as one of the three best prepared tournaments in this category in 1994 at the ATP meeting in Monte Carlo. It was a surprise for many, but we simply wanted to be the best from the first year! Miroslav Černošek, head of Prostějov tennis, said.
"It was a strange time, then. We really strived to succeed, we were confronted with many organization issues on the go, and nobody was willing to help us. The Czech Tennis Association did not have very good reputation in the tennis world, prize money was not paid here, players received it from the ATP head office where we had to deposit the amount."
One year later, Jiří Novák made it to the finals for the first time, but then he was defeated by Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, world's twentieth player who defeated future world's number one Gustavo Kuerten, Roland Garros triple champion, in semifinals! He also made his first steps towards star career in Prostějov.
"We sensed that many are talking about our tournament," Černošek added. "There was a new central court and a very important thing for us was that business and political personalities became interested in our tournament. I dare say that our tournament offered much better facilities and accompanying events than all tournaments held at Štvanice. I realized that we must invest both in our players and in accompanying activities."
