04.06.2018 14:15:17 | The qualification was a great prelude to the 25th Prostějov Challenger MONETA Czech Open. “I’m glad that fifteen Czechs tried to succeed in it. It was not easy, but it is great that many young players tried to get through to the main event,“ said the tournament director Petra Černošková. Six Czechs advanced to the second round, nine lost hope to get through to the main event right at the beginning of the qualification. “We gave an opportunity to very young players. I could have been expected that they will not be up to such quality opponents. However, they gained new experience and they may be more successful already next year,“ said Petra Černošková with reference to the beginning of the qualification. The Czech trio Šátral, Jaloviec, Mertl advanced to the qualification finals.
How did the seeded players do in the qualification? The first seed Martin Cuevas of Uruguay, the second seed Federico Gaio of Italy, the forth seed Marek Jaloviec, the fifth seed Jevgenij Karlovskij (345th ATP) of Russia, the sixth seed Gianluca Mager of Italy and the seventh seed Jan Šátral advanced to the final rounds of the qualification. Six of the eight seeded players made it through to the qualification final round. Therefore, the Czech tennis had a triple chance to advance to the main event of MONETA Money Bank tournament. The first seed Martin Cuevas (298th ATP) of Uruguay met Jan Mertl (515th ATP), Jaloviec (331st) clashed Mager (ITA), and Šátral (365th ATP) played Liška of Slovakia (997th ATP), a surprise of the qualification, and Gaio of Italy had to fight his way through against Karlovskiy of Russia.
Results of the 3rd qualification round: Cuevas – Mertl 6:4, 7:6(3), Mager – Jaloviec 6:2, 6:2, Šátral – Liška 2:6, 6:0, 6:3, Gaio – Karlovskiy 6:4, 6:2.
