Czech tennis player Jonáš Forejtek in action during the exhibition Friendship Cup.
Roman Vondrouš, ČTK
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The Czech Republic was one of the first countries to play tennis matches in Europe after the pandemic. The Cup of the President of the Czech Tennis Association, the team Tipsport Elite Trophy or the Czech-Slovak Friendship Cup. The projects that most countries can envy us have fulfilled their purpose, and Czech players would probably come to futures tournaments and challengers, especially at the moment, better prepared than their foreign rivals.
Much has been written about Djokovic’s Adria Tour, but we can’t forget that the Balkans were clearly the best competition so far, and even though the tournament in Zadar was not completed due to positive tests on Covid-19, the composition of tennis players in the tournament in Belgrade and later took place in Zadar, he would not be ashamed of any tournament on the ATP circuit.
And the #WINNER of the first #AdriaTour tennis tournament in Belgrade is #DominicThiem! ????♥️????
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Congratulations @ThiemDomi, we are happy that we had a chance to meet you, watch you play amazing tennis and greet you in Serbia! pic.twitter.com/OJojWOCSeW— Adria Tour Official (@AdriaTennisTour) June 15, 2020
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Even earlier, Janko Tipsarevič also started organizing tournaments in his academy, creating a six-week series of tournaments for tennis players from Eastern Europe, in which players of the elite hundred (Rubljov, Čorič, Lajovič) sometimes appeared among the tennis players from the lower levels of the rankings.
In Germany, it started even earlier than in the Czech Republic, first with the domestic event DTB German Pro Series, which was mostly attended by players from the second to the fifth hundred rankings from Germany, or tennis players living and training in Germany.
However, our western neighbors, hand in hand with the improving situation, spun plans for larger events, so this week there is even a tournament in the hangar of the former Tempelhof airport with Petra Kvitová, Jelena Svitolinová, Dominic Thiem or Tommy Haas.
Caption this ????✈️@bett1aces pic.twitter.com/ab2tEjo8Ps
— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) July 17, 2020
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All tennis fans had to be captivated by the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, which was played in Nice. The race, which turned the rules of tennis upside down, was eventually dominated by Matteo Berrettini, who defeated the Greek Tsitsipase in the final. In Nice, time was played and during the individual quarters, when they alternated services in pairs, they could also take various jokers, for which they gained extra points.
The new King of UTS ????
This moment will stay in the history books. Matteo Berrettini “The Hammer” becomes the first ever UTS champion. Here’s how it ended ????#UTShowdown pic.twitter.com/3Nh0xcD0yH
— UTS | Ultimate Tennis Showdown (@UTShowdown) July 12, 2020
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They also have their tournaments (so far rather local) in Portugal, sparsely in Spain, Italy or Austria, where Jürgen Melzer, for example, was seen. The Poles also play their championships and the Baltics also joined forces for the joint Baltic League, which, however, had a very poor cast.
And how much longer will we see these unique tournaments that may never be repeated? Tennis players and spectators certainly hope that the restart of the real season awaits us very soon, but even these local tennis battles have something in common … What do you think?
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