Former Prague Open champion and would-be top seed at this year's event, Barbora Krejcikova, won't be playing at the WTA 250 event.
Barbora Krejcikova has had a fairly solid year so far, but the Czech player isn't enjoying life on Tour very much right now. Her grass season was a mixed bag, even though she made the final of the Birmingham Open, where she was beaten by Jelena Ostapenko.
Her Wimbledon event was cut short by an injury and it seems like it's still affecting her. She won't be playing at the Prague Open, which is a shame as she's a native player and would have been the top seed. Czech players have dominated this event over the years, winning 5 of the previous 8 editions, including the last two ones.
One of those (2021) was won by Krejcikova who proved better than Tereza Martincova in the final. It was during her peak years and fans hoped to see her back this year. She won't, as the organizers confirmed her withdrawal from the event during a Friday press conference. The injury sustained at Wimbledon is the culprit, as she's not yet fully healthy.
Instead of her as the top seed, we'll see Marie Bouzkova, who is actually the defending champion, having won the event last year by beating Anastasia Potapova. The Russian also won't play, though in her case, it's a ban and not an injury. When it comes to Krejcikova, she'll be hoping to make a full recovery before the US Open comes around and preferably even sooner.
After a lacklustre campaign last year, Krejcikova found her tennis this year and was very motivated to shake up the top of the sport. She felt capable of challenging the likes of Swiatek, Sabalenka, and Rybakina at the top, and her Dubai Championships triumph over Swiatek (6-4 6-2) certainly doesn't make it seem too far-fetched. She needs to be healthy, though.
0 Comments