The first will take place within the 20th year of the 1st ČLTK Prague Open from 15 to 22 August with a subsidy of 137,560 euros, and the three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, currently the world seventeen, will perform on clay at the repaired Negrelli viaduct.
The second will be the Czech number one Jiří Veselý (65th in the ATP order). Lukáš Rosol, Zdeněk Kolář and Tomáš Macháč from the Czechs are also in the main competition for 48 players. Jonáš Forejtek, Jiří Lehečka, Michael Vrbenský and Andrew Paulson will play wild cards.
Thirty-five-year-old Wawrinka completes the challenger category tournament after ten years. He last played at home in Lugano, where he won his sixth title on the circuit. “I’m looking forward to going back to the court and returning to Prague after a long time,” said Wawrinka.
Former world number 16 German Philipp Kohlschreiber and French winner Arthur Rinderknech, the winner of two of this year’s challengers, should also play.
“There have been a lot of cancellations in recent days, but we still have a lot of quality field ahead of us and we can look forward to great tennis,” tournament director Vladislav Šavrda told ČTK.
While in Stromovka it is played on the basis of a WTA decision behind closed doors without spectators, in Štvanice fans are allowed to enter. Courts two and four will be freely accessible, the number one entry fee will be 300 crowns.
“We’re looser than women in letting the audience in, but otherwise it’s very strict,” Savrda said as he headed for the Covid-19 test. He must undergo the players, their entourage and part of the organizing committee.
“Players are isolated from the surroundings, no one else is allowed in the locker rooms, they have their own space reserved for eating and inside they are ordered to wear veils,” Šavrda described.
The tournament will start on Saturday, when there are two matches on the qualification program and the first round will take place. The singles and doubles finals will be on Saturday, August 22nd.
Along with the Prague tournament, a challenger will also be played in Todi, Italy. The first ATP Tour after the coronavirus break should be the Western & Southern Open played in New York from August 22 as a general at the grand slam US Open.
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