Just right before consecutive big weeks in Madrid and Rome begin, clay-court action in Prague is still ongoing with the tour transiting to the J&T Banka #PragueOpen. Headlined by top seed and home favourite Karolina Pliskova, the enthusiastic Czech crowd will have a busy week with six local players in the main draw, excluding those in the qualifying rounds.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova has opted to skip the tournament, missing the chance to defend her precious 280 points, but Pliskova will carry the hopes of the home fans, continuing the tradition of a Czech reaching the final at this tournament. Ever since this tournament was introduced on the tour back in 2015, a Czech player has reached the final on every single occasion.
First Quarter: Pliskova, Siniakova leads the way
#KarolinaPliskova was forced to withdraw from the tournament last year after winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but this time she returns after falling in the opening round of her title defence in Stuttgart. She faces the dangerous #MonaBarthel in the first round in a clash of former champions, with the German being the only non-Czech champion in the past five years.
Former top-10 player #AndreaPetkovic opens her campaign against #JessicaPegula, and a potential second-round clash between Pliskova and Petkovic will certainly attract some crowd. Pliskova claimed that she was ill for two weeks which could have explained her loss to Victoria Azarenka, but hopefully, this would not affect her in Prague where she is a former champion in 2015.
Sixth seed #KaterinaSiniakova goes up against the tricky #DalilaJakupovic in the opening round. Siniakova has started the year poorly and will be desperate to find a couple of good wins on her home ground, especially after a tough loss to world number 189 Elena Rybakina last week in Istanbul.
#StefanieVoegele, who fell at the first hurdle last year, will look to prevent the same result from happening once again, as her first opponent would be wildcard #JanaCepelova. Siniakova will be the favourite to reach the quarterfinals, but with the current unpredictable state of women’s tennis, anything is possible!
Prediction: Ka.Pliskova d. Siniakova
Second Quarter: Hard-hitters dominate the line-up
One of the must-watch first-round matches in Prague, the struggling fourth seed #MihaelaBuzarnescu only has her luck to blame as she was handed yet another tough draw. The defending finalist, who had only won four of her last 21 matches, has a bunch of points to defend but will face two-time Major champion and former world number two #SvetlanaKuznetsova in an intriguing first-round clash.
Kuznetsova started her season in late April after taking time off to recover from a knee injury and rebounded to make the quarterfinals at the Samsung Open. The winner of this clash will most likely face #EkaterinaAlexandrova in the second round.
#AleksandraKrunic, who has been experiencing an on-off season thus far, will get her tournament started against a qualifier which could provide her with a confidence-boosting victory. She will face a Slovak in the second round, with #AnnaKarolinaSchmiedlova looking to upset seventh seed #ViktoriaKuzmova, who definitely has the capabilities to spring a deep run this week.
Kuzmova should be the favourite to emerge from this quarter, but the danger Kuznetsova brings can never be underestimated. Will youth prevail or experience prove crucial?
Prediction: Kuzmova d. Kuznetsova
Third Quarter: Can Vondrousova capitalize on her chances?
Eighth seed #MarketaVondrousova, who is still in action at the Istanbul Cup having reached the final without losing a set en route. The Czech is currently enjoying a terrific 2019 season which saw her boast a commanding 19-4 win-loss record with back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami and reaching two WTA finals. She received a rather soft draw and will face a qualifier or lucky-loser in the opening round.
Her potential second-round opponent would be #BernardaPera, who has never been extremely convincing on clay. This should be Vondrousova’s quarter to lose, especially with her recent form it is difficult not to see the hard-hitting lefty to progress deep into the tournament.
#MandyMinella, who battled past the qualifying rounds to reach the main draw in Stuttgart last week, will re-enter the top-100 of Monday’s rankings after a spirited first-round loss to Belinda Bencic. She opens against a qualifier, which provides her with another golden opportunity to push herself up in the rankings.
Third seed #WangQiang has only ever reached one clay-court quarterfinal on tour throughout her career. She started her dirt season poorly; putting up a disappointing performance and ultimately falling to Hsieh Su-wei in Stuttgart. However, she faces #MargaritaGasparyan in the first round, with the Russian currently under an injury cloud after she was forced to retire in her semifinal match in Istanbul over the weekends.
Prediction: Vondrousova d. Minella
Fourth Quarter: Will Sevastova navigate her way through this tricky draw?
Fifth seed #DanielleCollins returns to action on red clay and will start her tournament against compatriot #JenniferBrady. The world number 32 reached the quarterfinals at the Volvo Car Open at the start of the month, but that was her only last-eight appearance at any clay-court event on tour throughout her young career.
There will be an all-Czech battle between veteran #BarboraStrycova and rising star #KarolinaMuchova, who had received a wildcard into the main draw. The conditions in Prague should be rather familiar for Strycova, having reached the quarterfinals in 2016 and the last-four in 2017. This will be Muchova’s first-ever appearance at this tournament, and it will be an interesting clash considering the younger Czech has been in terrific form this year while Strycova seemed to have struggled with an injury in Istanbul last week.
#KristynaPliskova, the 2017 finalist, will face fellow hard-hitting #NataliaVikhlyantseva in a battle between two big-servers. The Czech owns a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head record but the Russian will look to continue her resurgent run this year, although it might be an uphill task considering Pliskova has the support of the home crowd.
Second seed #AnastasijaSevastova stunned everyone when she reached the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating Jelena Ostapenko and Laura Siegemund despite being forced to withdraw from her country’s Fed Cup tie just days ago due to a back injury, which was rumoured to be extremely serious which caused her unable to compete in Latvia.
Finding her best tennis in Stuttgart, she will look to carry her good run into Prague where she faces former junior world number one #AnastasiaPotapova in the first round, with the two players looking to put up a high-quality encounter for the fans. Potapova will look to cause some troubles to the second seed during their first career meeting, but is also currently under an injury cloud having retired from the Istanbul Cup.
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