PROSTEJOV, September 8, 2020

The top two seeds of the €132,280 Moneta Czech Open began their title bid with straight-set victories on Tuesday. Pablo Andujar, defending champion and No. 1 seed of the ATP Challenger 125 tournament, defeated Czech wild card entry Zdenek Kolar 6-4, 6-3.

The World No. 56 from Spain, one of three top 100 players in the singles main draw, converted five of his eight break point chances to prevail after one hour and 38 minutes. Andujar will next take on Lorenzo Giustino of Italy.

The 2020 clay-court swing in 🇨🇿 concludes this week with the Moneta Czech Open in Prostejov. #ATPChallengerTour pic.twitter.com/BQAZg2pReW

— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) September 7, 2020

Later on Center Court, home favourite Jiri Vesely eased past Ilya Ivashka from Belarus, winning 6-2, 6-3. The No. 2 seed and three-time Prostejov champion (2014, 2015, 2017) fired seven aces and won 83 per cent of his first-service points to advance after one hour and 16 minutes.

“I served well, which put my opponent under pressure. I didn’t make many mistakes, it was a pretty good performance. I felt good on the court, this is my living room,” Vesely said. Up next for the 27-year-old Czech will be Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic.

In other action, lucky loser Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan overcame Yannick Maden from Germany 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to set a second-round clash with No. 3 seeded Italian Stefano Travaglia. Sixth favourite Kamil Majchrzak of Poland beat Roman Safiullin of Russia 6-4, 6-4 in 80 minutes and will next play Australia’s Marc Polmans.

27th edition of the Czech Open

One of four ATP Challenger Tour tournaments in the Czech Republic, the event in Prostejov is the longest-running. In 2018, the clay-court stop celebrated its 25th anniversary. It has been home cooking for the Czech contingent, with Jiri Vesely, Radek Stepanek and Jan Hajek each lifting the trophy on three occasions.