Barbora Krijkova became the only Czech tennis player to advance to the second round on the first day of play at this year’s US Open.
Last year’s quarter-finalist defeated Mexican qualifier Fernanda Contreras 6:0, 6:4 in the opening round on concrete courts at Flushing Meadows.
On the other hand, Karolina Moshova lost to Australian Agla Tomljanovic 3:6, 6:7, or sixteen-year-old Sara Bilik, who lost to Russian Lyudmila Samsonova 3:6, 1:6 in her Grand Slam debut, Failed.
Among the men, Jerry Lehick also finished, who was not enough against Christian Garin of Chile 6:3, 6:7, 5:7, 1:6. Tomas Match lost 6:3, 6:7, 1:6, 6 :3, 5:7 after a battle that lasted more than four hours with Botic Van De Zandschulp.
The 23rd-ranked player in the world, Krezhikova, has confirmed her role as the best player against Contreras, who is two years her junior. In the opening set, she did not allow her opponent even a game and awarded the Mexican “Canary”.
Although last year’s winner of Roland Garros lost her serve three times in the second set, she won the duel after 1 hour 27 minutes thanks to four breaks. It was her seventh win since returning from an elbow injury in February. The Brno native will challenge Serbian Alexandra Krunichova in the next round.
“I think I played well. The first rounds are always difficult and unpleasant. I had an opponent who had played three games here and I played well for sure.”
She praised herself, “I was happy that I managed a match like this in two sets and went ahead. I think it will help me. My performance is improving.”
Muchová will not repeat last year’s US Open round of 16 appearances. The 26-year-old Olomouc-born player, who played only her thirteenth match this year due to health issues, lost to Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tomljanovic in two sets.
She lost her serve three times in the first set, and although she improved in the second and worked at 6:5 to win the set, she didn’t take the opportunity. Tomljanovic then won the shortened match 7:5.
“It was a playable match. However, I didn’t perform to my best, so it was hard for me to win. In the best moments, I stuck to my ground and hope to count on it. But it didn’t work, lamented Muchová.
Sixteen-year-old Beglik reached the main competition from the playoffs and could only surprise Samsonova against the 35th player in the world. However, the seven-year-old Russian confirmed her level and won her eleventh match in a row. She also won tournaments in Washington and Cleveland prior to the US Open.
“For me and the whole team, it still means a lot of success. I went to enjoy the match. Of course, I had a very difficult time at the beginning. The opponent won two consecutive tournaments and you can see that she is ‘in good shape’,” Beglik admitted. Believe. I left everything on the field, but unfortunately it was better,” she said.
20-year-old Lehečka did not qualify for the second round even on his fourth appearance in the “Big Four” tournament. The highest-ranked Czech actor in the tournament had a good duel and after winning the first set he sent in 5:3 to lead 2:0 in the match. However, he lost his serve and Garen took the match to break the tie, winning 7:3.
In the next session, Lehečka lost his serve four more times and lost the match over three hours later. Although he collected ten aces, he made 66 non-forced fouls. Twenty-six-year-old Garin will face Australian Alex de Minaur in the next round of the tournament.
“I think I was the better player in the first two sets. I didn’t take advantage of the situations that were offered to me,” said Lehečka. “My opponent wasn’t feeling well, he wasn’t playing his best tennis and he felt he had nothing to offer despite my good performance. However, unfortunately, I couldn’t take advantage of these situations and I didn’t mentally manage the important moments. Wisdom in tennis. It’s a shame that I’ve been unable to seize this opportunity for a while,” Čech regretted.
The US Open also ended for another Czech player, Machac. The Peron native had a five-set battle with the world’s number 22 quarter-finalist last year, Van de Zandschulp, but ultimately did not advance. He helped his opponent himself with 17 aces and 68 winning balls. Machai lost after eight matches.
“However, if someone had told me that I was going to win the challenger and lost in the main competition to Botic in five sets at the Grand Slam, I would have won it all ten. It is going well and I will definitely benefit from that. I will continue to work hard,” Machai promised.
