Two Czechs advanced to the semifinals of the Prostejov Challenger, tournament leader Lehečka did not

The ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Prostějov had a quarterfinal day on Thursday in the singles competition. Svrčina walked away from the Czech derby as the winner and was joined among the top four by Macháč from the home team. On the other hand, the favoured Lehečka dropped out. At the same time, we got to know the finalists of the doubles.

Thursday’s action on the clay in Prostejov started with a duel of young Czechs, in which 20-year-old Dalibor Svrčina challenged Jakub Menšík, three years younger. The match offered two different sets.

In the tiebreak of the first set, the older player won 7:2, which positively influenced his performance towards the second set. Svrcina, who is ranked 232nd in the ATP rankings, did not give the eight-ranked Menšík much of a chance to turn things around and advanced to the semi-final stage after winning 7::6 and 6::1.

Last year he also played for the title in Hana, which was eventually won by Vít Kopřiva. This year he lost in the opening round. Dalibor Svrčina will face Slovak Lukáš Klein in the final round of the UniCredit Czech Open 2023.

133. the tennis player of the world defeated the number one seed Jiri Lehecka. Player number 41 has not been doing well during the clay part of this season, which was confirmed in Prostějov. The biggest favourite for the overall triumph lost 3::6 and 4::6 in the quarterfinals.

“Honestly, I’m glad that the clay season is over and I can concentrate on grass and then, if necessary, on concrete,” Lehečka, who will be competing in Stuttgart, told the YouTube channel of Tennis World.

Dimitar Kuzmanov and Francisco Comesana took the centre court. This Bulgarian-Argentine confrontation brought success to the South American. Comesana, ranked 241st in the singles rankings, won twice 6: 4.

His next opponent will be Tomas Machac. As the 127th singles player in the ATP rankings, he confirmed his role as the favourite against the 251st. He defeated Román Andrés Burruchaga, the second of the Argentine representatives in the semi-finals, by 7::5 and 6::2.

Friday’s programme will start at 11am with the match between Klein and Svrcina, followed by the clash between Comesana and Machac. The penultimate day of the tournament will culminate with the doubles title match.

Even that will not be without the participation of a local tennis player, thanks to Adam Pavlasek. Alongside his Uruguayan teammate Ariel Behar, he will face the Italian-Spanish duo Marco Bortolotti, Sergio Martos Gornés.

“I’m definitely happy about it because every final is good. Of course, the home atmosphere adds the icing on the cake,” Pavlásek told Tennis World.

Source: ATP, UniCredit Czech Open, Tennis World