WASHINGTON, July 21, 2020 (by Michael Dickens)
Over the past month, women’s tennis has thrived in the Czech Republic thanks to the Tipsport Elite Trophy series of team exhibitions that have taken place both indoors and outdoors as well as on clay and hard courts.
The latest, Tipsport Elite Trophy 3, has brought competition to Štvanice, an island on the Vltava River between the Prague districts of Holesovice and Karli. Not only have Czech players such as World No. 3 Karolina Pliskova and No. 12 Petra Kvitova captained teams while competing, but it’s also given a chance for Barbora Strycova, Krystina Pliskova, Marketa Vondrouseva and Karolina Muscova to get much needed match competition during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown of the WTA Tour. Add to the mix, this week‘s fixtures have included World No. 8 Belinda Bencic and Stephanie Voegele from Switzerland, Victoria Kuzmova of Slovakia and Iga Swiatek of Poland mixed in with the Czech players.
Among them, Swiatek has been a nice surprise. After losing to the World No. 26 Muchova in a third-set match tie-break (10-8) on Saturday, she rebounded nicely to score wins over Tereza Martincova and Vondrousova. In Monday’s 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory against last year’s French Open semifinalist, Vondrousova, the 49th-ranked Swiatek hit 15 winners and converted five of seven break-point opportunities.
Led by Swiatek’s two victories, the Pink team captained by Strycova – and including Bencic, who won twice in singles over the weekend – defeated the Black team captained by Pliskova 9-3 in the three-day event.
Sealed with an ace.@Karomuchova7 defeats Kuzmova 6-3, 6-2 at the Tipsport Elite Trophy. pic.twitter.com/xhFMjkXHsw
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 20, 2020
Krajinovic wins battle in Belgrade
World No. 32 Filip Krajinovic of Serbia needed nearly three hours but he held off upset-minded No. 772 Aziz Kijametovic of Bosnia in three sets, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4, at the Eastern European Championships in Belgrade on Monday. Other winners at Tipsarevic Tennis Academy included: No. 30 Borna Coric of Croatia, No. 80 Laslo Djere of Serbia, and No. 107 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia.
The Serbian survives. 🇷🇸
Filip Krajinović defeats Kijametovic in three sets after nearly three hours at the Eastern European Championships. pic.twitter.com/UEDDjWf2tf
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 20, 2020
Nadal continues to practice on clay
Watch as @RafaelNadal practises at his own @rnadalacademy with Spanish rising star Daniel Rincon. Rafa’s continued practise on clay (instead of hard) seems to make it more likely he will skip @usopen to focus on the European clay season & @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/58oHEP4fht
— Tennishead (@tennishead) July 20, 2020
Wimbledon 2020 collection to go to charity
The Wimbledon 2020 collection made by @RalphLauren is being sold entirely for charity 👕#Wimbledon
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 20, 2020
Golden Olympic moments
With the Tokyo Summer Olympics a year away, here’s a look back at gold medal moments in men’s singles from 1988 to 2016.
Golden moments 🥇
With @Tokyo2020 just over a year away, take a look back at these winning moments from the Olympic men’s singles finals between 1988 and 2016…
🎥 @Olympics pic.twitter.com/1JmqHXpKtI
— ITF (@ITF_Tennis) July 20, 2020
Should Olympic tennis become a team event?
In this week’s “Rally” column, Tennis.com’s Joel Drucker and Steve Tignor discuss whether Olympics tennis should become a team event.
👉 Should college tennis adopt @WorldTeamTennis‘ format?
👉 Why is Olympic tennis not a team competition?
👉 What about USTA leagues?In this week’s edition of The Rally, @joeldrucker and @SteveTignor talk team.https://t.co/eoSK3uL02q
— TENNIS (@Tennis) July 20, 2020
What they’re photographing
It’s time to build@WTA pic.twitter.com/t59BwFgsaM
— Palermo Ladies Open (@LadiesOpenPA) July 20, 2020
What they’re saying
Anastasija Sevastova on winning the bett1ACES in Berlin Sunday: “It was always tough. Against Petra, she’s such a great player – you don’t get any rhythm and she plays so fast. I just tried to stay there and wait for my chances. At first, she clearly dominated with her strong service. But I always stayed on and managed to break in the second set. Fortunately, I had the better end for myself in the match tie-break. The conditions in the hangar were ideal for my game. The wins here against three strong opponents give me a lot of confidence.”
What they’re sharing on social media
Stefanos Tsitsipas / Fans come in a shapes and sizes.
Fans come in all shapes and sizes. pic.twitter.com/6dAg1b9S9W
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@StefTsitsipas) July 20, 2020
Wimbledon groundsman / Monday morning marvelous
Monday morning marking, marvellous pic.twitter.com/LrTixnxDIU
— Wimbledon Groundsman (@AELTCGroundsman) July 20, 2020
Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev / Did you miss us?
Did you miss us⁉️🤪 pic.twitter.com/GZT4R3dNjY
— Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) July 20, 2020
