Czech tennis player Karolína Plíšková in the 1st round of the French Open in Paris, May 29, 2023.
Paris – Jiří Lehečka and Markéta Vondroušová are the only seven Czech tennis players to advance to the 2nd round of the Roland Garros Grand Slam today. The quarter-finalist of this year's Australian Open defeated the twenty-first seeded Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany 7:5, 1:6, 6:3, 3:6, 6:1, improved his record on the Paris clay and will next challenge the American Marcos Giron. Twenty-three-year-old Vondrousová beat American Alycia Parks 6:4, 6:0. Her next opponent will be world number nine Darja Kasatkinová from Russia.
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Photo gallery: French Open 2023 tennis tournament
On the contrary, Petra Kvitová, Karolína Plíšková, Kateřina Siniaková, Tereza Martincová and Linda Fruhvirtová failed. Kvitová, seeded ten and Czech number one, failed in the duel with the Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretta and lost to her 3:6, 4:6. Round of 16 Plíšková lost to American Sloane Stephens 0:6, 4:6, Siniaková to another player from the USA Peyton Stearns 6:7, 2:6, Martincová to former champion Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia 3:6 and 5:7 and Linda Fruhvirtová with Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova twice 2:6.
The 21-year-old Lehečka ended a streak of four defeats and defeated Struff after more than three hours of play. He played 51 winning balls in the match, scored seven aces.
The native of Mladá Boleslav took the lead thanks to two breaks, but in the second set Struff was 100 percent on serve and equalized. A single break was enough for Leheček in the third set and he already led 3:1 in the fourth set. But the German turned the tide with five games and forced a continuation. In the fifth set, however, Lehečka was already dominating. He built a 5-0 lead and two games later took advantage of his second match point.
“I'm very happy that I succeeded. Every match won in five sets is extremely valuable. It's a big kick for me after the unsuccessful Masters on clay,” Lehečka told reporters. “Struff has shown in recent weeks that he can play on clay. He is a good player who has managed to get back into the 30s after injury and is a very valuable scalp. We know each other and we knew what to expect from each other. The quality of the match was good, ” he added.
Vondroušová, the finalist of the 2019 tournament, returned to Paris after two years, missing last year due to a wrist injury. She managed the match with the 45th player in the world Parks in 71 minutes and avenged her opponent's defeat from last year's tournament in Angers. The American made 10 double faults and 40 unforced errors.
“I had an operation last year and was quite sad that I wasn't here. I couldn't even watch the tournament. Now I'm excited to be back and in shape. I came here with recorded matches, I feel good. Every year I I really like it here,” described Vondroušová.
The 23-year-old native of Sokolov initially lost 0:2, but thanks to winning four games in a row, she managed to turn the tide. In the second set, the Czech Republic did not give her a year younger opponent a chance and gave her a “canary” in 23 minutes
Two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitová was not enough for Cocciaretta, the 44th player in the world. In the duel, she also paid for 31 unforced errors and seven double faults. On the clay in Paris, she recorded her worst result since 2010.
“My opponent didn't give me anything for free. I fought with myself and with the game. I would like to play differently and not mess up so much,” said Kvitová, who in recent weeks had problems even with a sore leg. “It is the way it is, and I'm glad that I took part at all. There was a possibility that I wouldn't even play. I'm looking forward to the grass and I'm glad that the clay tournaments are over,” she added.
Although Kvitová scored the first break in the match in the third game, she was unable to confirm it immediately and lost her serve once more at the end of the set. The native of Bílovec also lost the second set, in which she lost 0:3. Although she was still able to reduce the score from 2:5 to 4:5, Cocciarett eventually closed the duel in one hour and 28 minutes with the second match point. The Italian won her first victory over a player from the world's top twenty.
Thirty-one-year-old Plíšková did not make it to the second round of Roland Garros for the first time since 2016. She lost to Stephens, the 30th player in the world, in one hour and 25 minutes. After the failure in Rome and the quarter-finals in Stuttgart, the native of Loun recorded her third defeat in a row.
Plíšková has been struggling with her knee in recent weeks and her start was not successful at all. She got a “canary” in 33 minutes and lost a set 0:6 for the second time in her career at grand slams. Before that, it happened to the 2017 Roland Garros semi-finalist seven years ago at Wimbledon against Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer.
The Czech tennis player got up in the second set and took the lead 4:3 thanks to a break in the seventh game. In the next game, however, she did not take advantage of the 30:0 lead, did not confirm the break and in the end she lost serve once more. She lost the fifth of six matches against Stephens, who played in the final in Paris five years ago.
“It was difficult, probably one of the most difficult draws for me. She plays well in this tournament, she likes it here. On the contrary, I didn't play well at all. It's hard to play tennis at 0:3, 0:4, 0:5 , which I should play,” said Plíšková. “I had a lot of chances in both sets, so I could at least make it to the third set. Some points were nice for people, but it wasn't quite nice tennis from my side,” she added.
Siniaková, who returned from a wrist injury, paid for 11 double faults. She did not use the 4:2 lead in the first set and twice did not use the serve to end it. She lost the tied tie-break 7:9. In the second set, the Czech tennis player failed to turn her service advantage into a game win in one of the four possibilities and in the match a total of seven times in a row, and lost the duel in an hour and 41 minutes. Roland Garros from 2017 Ostapenko. The tournament seventeen beat Martincová 44:7 on the winning balls. Although the Czech tennis player had 4:0 and 5:1 leads in the second set, she did not use the set point and lost after losing six games.
The fifty-ninth player in the world, Linda Fruhvirtová, did not follow up on the round of 16 from the Australian Open. In her Roland Garros main event debut, she played just eight winning balls and she too made 11 double faults. Thirteen years older, Pavlyuchenkova helped herself with 25 winning strokes.
French Open tennis tournament (clay, subsidy 49.6 million euros):
Men:
Singles – 1st round:
Lightweight(Czech Republic) – Struff (21-Germany) 7:5, 1:6, 6:3, 3:6, 6:1, Tiafoe (12-USA) – Krajinovic (Serb.) 6:3, 6:4 , 6:2, Davidovich (29-Sp.) – Fils (Fr.) 6:1, 4:6, 6:3, 6:3, Altmaier (German) – Hüsler (Switzerland) 6:3, 6 :4, 6:4, Djokovic (3-Serb.) – Kovacevic (USA) 6:3, 6:2, 7:6 (7:1), Fognini (It.) – Auger-Aliassime (10-Can. ) 6:4, 6:4, 6:3, Karatsev (Rus.) – Popyrin (Aust.) 6:3, 6:7 (4:7), 6:1, 6:2, Norrie (14-Brit .) – Paire (Fr.) 7:5, 4:6, 3:6, 6:1, 6:4, Bautista (19-Sp.) – Wu I-ping (China) 7:6 (7:4 ), 6:1, 6:1, De Minaur (18-Aust.) – Ivaška (Bel.) 6:1, 5:7, 6:1, 6:3, Shapovalov (26-Can.) – Nakashima ( USA) 6:4, 7:5, 4:6, 3:6, 6:3, Schwartzman (Arg.) – Zapata (32-Sp.) 1:6, 6:7 (5:7), 6: 2, 6:0, 6:4, Etcheverry (Arg.) – Draper (Brit.) 6:4, 1:0 scratch, Varillas (Peru) – Shang Yuncheng (China) 4:6, 2:6, 6:2, 6:3, 6:1, Daniel (Jap.) – O'Connell (Aust.) 6:0, 6:2, 6:4, Tirante (Arg.) – Van de Zandschulp (25-Niz .) 6:2, 4:6, 6:3, 6:4, Giron (USA) – Medjedovic (Serb.) 6:0, 6:2, 1:6, 6:0, Wawrinka (Switzerland) – Ramos (Sp.) 7:6 (7:5), 6:4, 6:7 (2:7), 1:6, 6:4, Alcaraz (1-Sp.) – Cobolli (It.) 6: 0, 6:2, 7:5, Corič (15-Croatia) – Coria (Arg.) 7:6 (7:3), 6:7 (5:7), 6:3, 6:3, Cachín (Arg.) – Thiem (Aust.) 6:3, 6:2, 6:7 (1:7), 4:6, 6:2, Zhang Chen (China) – Lajovic (Serb.) 6 :1, 4:1 strech., Van Assche (Fr.) – Cecchinato (It.) 6:1, 6:1, 6:3, Sinner (8-It.) – Muller (Fr.) 6:1, 6:4, 6:1.
Women:
Singles – 1st round:
Vondroušová (CZE) – Parksová (USA) 6:4, 6:0, Stephensová (USA) – Karolína Plíšková (16-CZE ) 6:0, 6:4, Pavlyuchenkova (Rus.) – L. Fruhvirtová (Czech Republic) 6:2, 6:2, Stearns (USA) – Siniaková(CZE) 7:6 (9:7), 6:2, Cocciarettová (It.) – Kvitová (10-ČR) 6:3, 6:4, Avanesjanová (Russia) – Bencicová (12-Switzerland) 6:3, 2:6, 6:4, Svitolina (Ukr.) – Trevisanová (26-It.) 6:2, 6:2, Gračová (Russia) – Gálfiová (Germany) 6:4, 2:6, 6:1, Bolsova (Sp.) – Kučová (SR) 6:2, 6:1, Putintseva (Kaz.) – Zanevská (Belg.) 7:5, 7:6 (7 :3), Vekičová (22-Croatian) – Jastremská (Ukrainian) 6:2, 7:5, Peraová (USA) – Kontaveitová (Est.) 7:6 (8:6), 6:2, Dayová ( USA) – Mladenovicová (Fr.) 7:5, 6:1, Keysová (20-USA) – Kanepiová (Est.) 6:1, 3:6, 6:1, Osoriová (Col.) – Bogdanová (Rum. ) 3:6, 6:3, 7:5, Šnajderová (Rus.) – Marinová (Can.) 6:3, 7:5, Garcia (5-Fr.) – Wang Si-yü (China) 7:6 (7:4), 4:6, 6:4, Haddadová Maia (14-Brazil) – Maria (German), Blinkova (Russian) – Bonaventure (Belg.) 6:2, 6:0, Friedsam ( German) – Hibinová (Japan) 6:3, 3:6, 6:4, Schmiedlová (SR) – Kuděrmětová (11-Russia) 6:3, 6:1, Alexandrová (23-Russia) – Tomovová (Bulgaria) 6:1, 2:6, 6:1, Waltertová (Switzerland) – Mandlikova (USA) 6:1, 4:6, 6:2
