After a break of several weeks, the tennis players will start another year full of tournaments. The first will be the United Cup team competition in Australia. In America, the under-20 world hockey championship playoffs will start with the Czech participation, and in Europe, football will once again be played elsewhere than in England, an interesting match is coming up in Toulouse, France.
Tenis, United Cup
Greece – Japan (10:00, Oneplay)
The fourth year of the United Cup begins in Perth and Sydney. The Czechs will enter the tournament of mixed teams only on Monday with a duel with Norway. The highlight of the first day’s program will be the match between Greece and Japan, especially the female members of both teams. Former world number three Maria Sakkari and number one Naomi Osaka will meet in it. Although the Greek has been struggling with a decline in performance in recent years and was even threatened with falling out of the top 100 last year, she is currently in a respectable 54th place.
And she is at home in the United Cup, she participated in all three previous editions and won six out of 10 matches. Although Osaka also went through a slump, she is now 16th in the world and was even in the semi-finals at the US Open. The Greeks can also rely on Stefanos Tsitsipas, together with the Italians, the Americans and the Czechs (Krejčíková, Menšík) they have the strongest roster. From the six groups, the winners and the two best teams from the second ranks advance to the next stage. The tournament will culminate on January 11, with the Americans defending their title.
Football, Ligue 1
Toulouse – Lens (20:45, Nova Sport 3)
Lens’ sensational run in the French league can continue in Toulouse. The team from the north of the country has only won since the beginning of November, currently they have seven (including one in the domestic cup). Racing are leading the domestic competition for the first time since August 2004 and are chasing PSG, who may have succumbed to the impression that the title will fall cheaply into their laps after winning the Champions League. Lens mainly relies on an excellent defense, conceding only 13 goals in 16 matches.
The key man in his line-up is the ball-stealing Mamadou Sangaré, who, however, will be absent this evening as he is representing Mali at the African Championship. In the entire season, he only appeared in the starting line-up in the first round, a few days after his transfer from Rapid Wien. Although Toulouse counts three wins in a row, it doesn’t go too well against Lens at home. Out of the last three mutual duels, he lost twice there, in both cases he did not even score a goal.
Hockey, WC under 20 years
Czech Republic – Switzerland (22:30, CT sport)
For the fifth time in a row, Czech juniors can be among the four best teams in the world. The defenders of the bronze medal face Switzerland in the quarter-finals, and Patrik Augusta’s men can breathe a sigh of relief, because it could have turned out much worse. Only Canada’s victory over Finland in the very last match of the group saved them from a duel with the defending champions, the home team USA. In addition, as an additional bonus, Czechs do not have to move from Minneapolis.
They are clear favorites against their next opponent, having beaten them in all four head-to-head duels since the summer, with the score difference increasing almost constantly (5:3, 3:0, 7:2, 5:1). Last year they also defeated them clearly (5:1) in the championship. However, Augusta’s coach was not satisfied with the mood of his charges for the duel, he felt their carelessness, which can be a problem. The Swiss have the best defense in the tournament (eight goals conceded) and a great weakening. They saved all 13!
