All four Czech tennis players in Cleveland dropped out in the first round

The pinnacle of the North American tennis season on concrete in the form of the US Open is approaching. But before that, there are the preliminary tournaments. The one in Cleveland, belonging to the WTA 250 category, did not go well for the Czech singles players. Neither of them advanced from the first round. Domestic tennis is still represented at least in doubles.

Linda Nosková started her participation in the singles competition at Tennis in the Land in Ohio on Sunday. The eighteen-year-old tennis player challenged two years older and thirty ranks lower ranked Leyla Fernandez.

The Canadian finalist of the previous year’s Grand Slam in Flushing Meadows won smoothly in two sets. The wild card holder defeated the 42nd player of the WTA ranking in 65 minutes 6: 0 and 6: 2.

The other three Czech representatives played on the hard surface of Topnotch Stadium on Monday. World No. 12 Barbora Krejcikova was looking for a better result after a setback in the opening round of the previous tournament in Cincinnati.

But she failed to do so in her clash with Denmark’s Clara Tauson. Her opponent, who is ranked 90th in the singles rankings, was also beaten quite smoothly in an hour and a half. The result of the match was 4:6 and 1:6 from Krejcikova’s point of view.

The talented Linda Fruhvirt suffered her sixth setback in a row. At the age of eighteen, she was up against the much more experienced Caroline Garcia, the current world number seven.

55. she was not the favourite in the singles rankings, which was confirmed in the duel with the Frenchwoman. Fruhvirt lost the opening set 3:6. In the second set she won one game less and allowed her opponent to take advantage of her first match point.

Katerina Siniakova did not even finish her match. In particular, she faced the lucky qualification loser Sara Sorribes Torm. She lost the first set to the Spaniard also due to three lost serves 2:6.

During the second set she requested a break for treatment, apparently due to back pain. After losing the fourth game, Siniakova finally abandoned the match and the tournament ended quickly for her. In Cleveland, she is expected to play alongside Krejcikova in the doubles quarterfinals against Gabriela Dabrowska / Erin Routliffe on Thursday.

Miriam Kolodziejová, Oxana Kalashnikovová also made it to the top eight pairs. The Czech-Georgian duo will play Miju Katova and Aldila Sutjiadiova after their 6:4, 4:6 and 11:9 victory over Anna Danilinova and Xie Shuwei.

The defending doubles champions are Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the USA and Ellen Perez of Australia. Last year’s singles winner was Lyudmila Samsonova of Russia, but she will not be competing on the WTA circuit in Cleveland this year.

It will be broadcast live on O2 TV Sport and O2 TV Tennis. The culmination of the event is scheduled for Saturday 26 August. The main competitions at the US Open start two days later.

Source: WTA, O2 TV Sport