16.05.2024 12:44:50 | The Prostějov Challenger, one of the most traditional tournaments in Europe, will be held for the thirty-first time this year. Its participant list includes, among others, former world No. 1s as well as Grand Slam champions. Czech players have won the tournament thirteen times: Jan Hajek (2006, 2009, and 2010) Radek Štěpánek (2003, 2004, and 2013) and Jiří Veselý (2014, 2015, and 2017) won it three times each, Bohdan Ulihrach (1997, 2001) twice, and Vít Kopřiva (2022) and Dalibor Svrčina (2023) once.
Miroslav Černošek, the owner of TK PLUS, Jakub Dusílek, Chairman and CEO of UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, Petra Černošková, the tournament director, Tomáš Macháč, Lucie Šafářová, and Jan Koller commented on the tournament at a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Prague. The latter two, along with Tomáš Plekanec and Kristýna Plíšková, will surely be the stars of the exhibition, which is to take place before the singles final on Saturday.
What did Jakub Dusilek, Chairman of the Board and CEO of UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, have to say about supporting the tennis event? "I perceive the combination of the Czech Open and UniCredit Bank positively; we definitely want to support sports, even during these difficult times. For us, the connection of tennis with our brand is prestigious. I believe it will also be very interesting for the crowd, and the tournament will maintain the same excellent standard as last year. Moreover, Czech players have been steadily climbing in the rankings recently." Miroslav Cernosek recalled the excellent cooperation with UniCredit Bank. "It was crucial for us that this prestigious bank returned to the tennis scene in 2022 after four years. It was a great return and definitely a matter of the heart for me. I spent almost all my tennis years with Zivnostenská Bank, and later with UniCredit Bank. I am glad we have returned to the name UniCredit Czech Open. From the very beginning, the tournament has been attended by Slovak and Czech Davis Cup tennis players alongside interesting foreign stars, which was certainly interesting as UniCredit Bank operates in both countries."
What was the tournament player field? "The player list is currently in progress, but I am glad that mainly Czech and Slovak players will show up," said the tournament director Petra Cernoskova. "The world tour is very intense nowadays, and players suffer from a number of injuries. I think that the player field is strong and attractive; we have lots of experienced players as well as young ones who are climbing up." Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan (ATP 80th) and Pedro Cachín of Argentina (ATP 99th) are ranked in the world's top 100.
The first week of Roland Garros has been affecting the player list for a long time. Those who advance to the second week will not play in Prostějov. "If I'm knocked out, I'll go to Prostějov. I'll be ready," said Tomáš Macháč (ATP 45th) at the press conference. "If not, honestly, I'll prefer staying in Paris for the second week. I’ll also play doubles there, so we'll see how it goes." The same will apply to Jakub Menšík...
