Czech tennis players entered the US Open qualification. How did they do?

Domestic men’s tennis, unlike women’s tennis, has not been experiencing its best period in recent years. There are several young Czech players on the ATP circuit now, who are working their way through the qualifying rounds to participate in Grand Slam tournaments. How are they doing so far in the one before the US Open?

Two Czechs have already secured their participation in the last Grand Slam of the season. In the singles tournament, the 20-year-old Jiří Lehečka, the 60th tennis player in the world, and the nine years older Jiří Veselý can try to get the best result. The best junior according to the 2011 International Tennis Federation is currently ranked 68th in the singles rankings.

Four more of their compatriots had the opportunity to compete for the main competition at the US Open, although only three could advance. Zdeněk Kolář and Tomáš Macháč faced each other in the opening round of qualifying.

Macháč, who is 21 years old, won the match. He defeated his four years older compatriot 2:1 after sets 7:5, 4:6 and 6:1. On Thursday at 17:00 CET, the world number 126 will meet the Slovakian Jozef Kovalik, the 61st-ranked player.

Dalibor Svrcina successfully entered the three-round qualifying for one of the “Big Four” tournaments, playing Laurent Locoli of France. The ranked players also played a three-set duel.

After a clearly lost set with a score of 1::6, Svrcina, who is 19 years old, managed to turn the unfavourable situation around. He won the second set 6:4 and the third 6:2. He will face Dennis Novak in the second round at the same time as Machac. The Austrian is ranked 137th in the ATP rankings, the young Czech from Beroun 218th.

Five places below him is Jonáš Forejtek, who was no match for Riccardo Bonadio. The twenty-nine-year-old Italian defeated his eight years younger opponent 2::1, the final scores of the individual sets were 6::4, 4::6 and 6::3.

The end of the week will see the culmination of the qualification phase in the form of the final matches. On Monday 29 August, the major sporting event at the New York tennis complex in Flushing Meadows will be in full swing.

Source: US Open, ATP