03.06.2019 13:11:15 | Eight Czechs occurred at the MONETA Czech Open tournament on Monday. Seven of them played singles and Lehečka and Veselý played the double. They received a wild card but their draw was rather tough: they played the four-seeded Spanish-Argentinian couple Granollers, Molteni. The first match at court No. 1 saw two Czechs: the qualifier Pavel Nejedlý and the WC player Marek Jaloviec. The former one won with ease in two sets. In the opening game Nejedlý broke his opponent’s service which he repeated two more times until the end of the set. At the beginning of the second set, he was losing 0:2, but then he won six games in a row.
Domestic players Václav Šafránek and the qualifier Roman Jebavý met on the Central Court. Šafránek was a big favorite. However, the match had to be decided in the third set. Jebavý was leading 2:0 and had an advantage for 3:0. But then Šafránek won five games in a row, Jebavý reduced the lead to 4:5, but then he lost his service. “The breaking point was in the third set when I was leading 2:0, but he played a great backhand on the line and it got him back in the match,“ said Jebavý after the match. What about his advantage at 4:5 in the third set? “I was serving into the sun and I could not see anything. All I could see was Václav later on when I congratulated him. It’s a pity, I haven’t been so close to victory in the main event for a long time…”
