Australian open program: Spider and how do the Czechs play?

The Asutral tournament is currently moving into its second half. Domestic tennis fans can enjoy the participation of several Czech players in the round of 16. Jiří Lehečka made the biggest surprise so far, who dealt with world number seven Canadian Auger-Aliassime. In the quarterfinals, the Czech player will face the winner of the Tsitsipas vs. Sinner. Karolína Plíšková, Linda Fruhvirtová or doubles players Vondroušová and Kolodziejová and defending champion Krejčíková and Siniaková are other irons in the fire for promotion to the top eight of the tournament.

The main competition of the Australian Grand Slam started with the first rounds on Monday, January 16. The turning point of the tournament in the form of the quarter-final match will then take place from Thursday, January 24. The semi-finals will be played two days later, followed by the women’s singles final on Saturday 28 January, with the culmination of the men’s singles part of the tournament a day later.

Petra Kvitová, who entered the tournament as the 15th seed, will hold the highest position among the Czech players in singles. Fans of Czech tennis can also look forward to, for example, Barbora Krejčíková, Maria Bouzková or Karolín Plíšková. Among men, Jiří Lehečka, Tomáš Macháč and Dalibor Svrčina will compete in the main singles competition.

In the women’s doubles, the title is defended by the Czech pair Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková, who in last year’s final dealt with the Kazakh-Brazilian pair Anna Danilinová and Beatriz Hadaad Maia after sets 6:7 (3:7), 6:4 and 6:4.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal was among the stars of this year’s event. However, due to injury, his tournament journey ended in the second round on Mackenzie McDonald’s racket. On the opposite side of the spider was the Norwegian player Casper Ruud. However, even the tournament’s number two was eliminated in the second round after being defeated by Jenson Brooksby. The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and the legendary Novak Djokovic remain in the game from the TOP 4 seeded players. The Serbian player will be aiming for his 10th title, which would increase his previous record at the Australia Open.

Among the women, on the other hand, home Ashleig Bartyová, who ended her career last year, is not defending the title. World number one Iga Šwiateková finally had to bow down in the round of 16 before the tennis skills of the Kazakh player Elena Rybakinová, with whom she lost twice 4:6. Woman No. 2 Uns Džábirová also said goodbye to the tournament early thanks to the Czech player Markéta Vondroušová, who defeated her Tunisian opponent in the second round 6:1, 5:7 and 6:1. Among the seeded players, the American Jessica Pegula or the French player Caroline Garcia remain in the game.

Just like last year, Eurosport owns the broadcast rights to the Australian Grand Slam. It will be possible to watch live broadcasts from the tournament on the paid channels Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2. Another option is to use the broadcasts of bookmakers, which usually offer these streams after paying the entry registration fee or betting a minimum amount.

The reward for the most successful players of this year’s main tournament in Australia will be a record. Less than a month before the tournament, the organizers announced the amount, which, converted to Czech crowns, amounts to approximately 1.2 billion. The highest reward awaits the winner of both singles matches, it is approximately 46 million crowns. Approximately 1.6 million is prepared for less successful players who would be eliminated in the first round.

The already mentioned Novak Djokovic is among the most successful Australian Open players in history. During his career so far, he has won nine times, namely in 2008, 2011-2013, 2015-2016 and 2019-2021. Only three players were able to stop Djokovic’s winning streak. Stan Wawrinka managed it once (2014), Rafael Nadal twice (2009 and 2022) and the legendary Roger Federer three times (2010, 2017-2018).

Among women, in the open era of tennis, Serena Williams is the most successful, having conquered Australia a total of seven times. An interesting fact is that the last Czech player who triumphed in this tournament was Petr Korda from 1998.