Will Jiri Vesely stay in the elite 100? He has completed the first step towards defending his title in Pune

The only representative of Czech men’s tennis in the elite 100 ATP players has one chance to stay among the best. To win the ATP tournament in Pune. However, the unsuccessful start of the season in Australia did not give Vesely much confidence.

The last time he was able to triumph at an ATP tournament was in 2020, when he managed to master the important moments, play good tennis and, thanks to luck, win his second triumph on the circuit in Pune, India.

Since then, however, the form of the native of Pribram has gone down sharply. Last season was absolutely disastrous and at the beginning of the current one he dropped out at the Australian Open for the sixth time in a row in the first round with the wild card, American Stefan Kozlov (151).

The 28-year-old Czech tennis player has to defend his Pune championship or he will drop out of the top 100 after two years. At the end of the week, he could lose 295 points (he currently has 819) from the rankings, and only 45 if he successfully defends. American Steve Johnson, who closes the Top 100, has 719 points.

The tournament is not very star-studded, the biggest favourite is the 15th player in the world Aslan Karacev. Jiri Vesely faced Bernab Zapata in the semi-finals and after seven months without a win at an ATP tournament, he managed to win in two sets 6-3, 6-4.

Veselý started his defence journey well, but he will face a much tougher opponent in the next round. In the quarter-finals he will face Emil Ruusuvuori (87) of Finland. The 22-year-old Ruusuovori specializes in hard surfaces.

Last year, the two clashed at a tournament in Antalya, Turkey, which was also played on a hard surface. The Finn managed to win the match in two sets 6-3, 7-6(4). Let’s see if a small partial success in the form of a win in the eighth round will help Vesely in the next round.

Sources: Tenisovýsvět.cz, Livesport