06.06.2018 10:49:38 | Will the Czech players repeat their success from Tuesday on the Centre Court? Three domestic players celebrated their advancement to the third round of MONETA Czech Open on the second day of the tournament. Václav Šafránek fought on the Centre Court for almost two and a half hours. He rewarded the organisers for the main event wildcard by defeating the third seeded Roberto Carballes Baena.
“We kept breaking each other’s serves. It was an extremely tight match with a good ending. After a bad start, I had to adjust my game and take more risk. It is not typical for me, but it paid off,“ said Šafránek. He will meet Melzer of Austria in the second round.
Adam Pavlásek faced a harder opponent. However, he managed to win two tie-breaks against the second seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay. “I knew from the very beginning the serve would be crucial in this match. I concentrated on my serve and the tiebreak is only about errors. Fortunately, he made more errors than I did.“ Pavlásek will meet Munar of Spain in the second match on the Centre Court today. The Spaniard lost to Djokovic in the second round at Roland Garros. However, he fought his way through the qualification in Paris and defeated his native Ferrer in the first round.
The defending champion Veselý had an easier job against Gianluca Mager of Italy. Veselý still has a chance to win the fourth title. Today, he is facing Ymer of Sweden who ousted Šátral in a tough battle. Veselý is not afraid of him, but… “Ymer has proved many times that he can play tennis well. However, I still have more experience which means that it should, in theory, end up well. I know it won’t be easy, but Ymer shouldn’t knock me out.“
We should also note that the “lucky loser“ Marek Jaloviec enjoyed a moment of happiness. After Constant Lestienne of France retired, he was given an opportunity to appear in the main event. However, he only won three games against Gerald Meltzer. It is a pity that Jan Šátral did not succeed. He started the match against Elias Ymer of Sweden very well and was still leading 4:2 in the third set…
Zdeněk Kolář will play on Court No. 1 at 12:00 o’clock. He will face Gaio of Italy who advanced from the qualification.
