Editor’s note: This article was published on July 22. On July 23, five Czechs out of eight made it into the Prague quarterfinals: Linda Noskova, Katerina Siniakova, Sara Bejlek, Marie Bouzkova and Tereza Valentova. An all-Czech semifinal lineup is still possible.
The Livesport Prague Open has often functioned as a showcase of the remarkable Czech talent conveyor belt, with five of its 10 editions since 2015 ending in a home champion being crowned.
Prague: Scores | Draws | Order of play
This year, that’s even more the case than ever. Eleven Czech players — five direct entrants, two qualifiers and four wild cards — started in the 32-strong main draw. The only tour-level event in the Open Era with more was Roland Garros 2023, a 128-player draw featuring 12 Czechs.
Even more impressively, eight of those 11 won their openers, meaning that half of the last 16 is comprised of Czech players — an Open Era record. (The previous record of seven Czechs in a tour-level Round of 16 was also set at Prague, unsurprisingly, in both 2015 and 2016.)
Indeed, of the three Czech first-round losses, two came in matchups between home players — meaning that only one Czech fell to a foreign opponent (qualifier Jesika Maleckova to Slovakian No. 2 seed Rebecca Sramkova).
While only two of the Czechs in the draw are seeded – No. 1 Linda Noskova, the 2023 finalist, and No. 5 Marie Bouzkova, the 2022 champion — six are aged 21 or under, emphasizing the country’s plethora of up-and-coming talent. They include Noskova, currently at a career high of No. 23 after making the Wimbledon fourth round; 2024 Roland Garros junior champion Tereza Valentova, 18, who has won her first two WTA 125 titles in the past seven weeks and is now ranked No. 106; and former junior No. 1 Lucie Havlickova, 20, on the comeback trail after being sidelined for 15 months.
Dominika Salkova, 21, reached the second round of Prague for the third time; Barbora Palicova, also 21, notched her first career WTA main-draw victory; and Sara Bejlek, 19, made a victorious return from a month-long injury layoff that forced her to miss Wimbledon. Meanwhile, 29-year-old Katerina Siniakova successfully held it down for the older Czech generation.
Moreover, the youngest Czech player in the draw, 17-year-old Alena Kovackova, also put together a career-best tournament by qualifying for her first WTA main draw with wins over Arina Rodionova and Lucrezia Stefanini. Kovackova’s 15-year-old sister Jana, the junior No. 9, also received a qualifying wild card, where she stretched Nina Stojanovic to three sets in the first round.
Looking ahead, there could be more records still to be set. The current record number of Czechs in a tour-level quarterfinal lineup is six, and the record number in a tour-level semifinal lineup is three, both set — surprise! — at Prague 2015. This week, seven Czechs could potentially make the last eight, and there is at least one home player in each quarter — meaning there could be an all-Czech semifinal slate on Friday.
There have been eight all-Czech WTA finals since the country’s independence in 1993, of which the latest was Siniakova’s defeat of Bouzkova at Nanchang 2023.
By the numbers: How a record eight Czechs made it to the last 16
[1] Linda Noskova (CZE) d. [Q] Anastasia Gasanova 7-6(5), 7-6(7)
[WC] Dominika Salkova (CZE) d. [WC] Laura Samson (CZE) 6-3, 6-3
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) d. [7] Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) 7-5, 6-2
[WC] Lucie Havlickova (CZE) d. [Q] Alena Kovackova (CZE) 7-5, 6-1
Sara Bejlek (CZE) d. Moyuka Uchijima (JPN) 7-5, 6-2
[5] Marie Bouzkova (CZE) d. [Q] Gao Xinyu (CHN) 6-0, 6-2
[WC] Barbora Palicova (CZE) d. Priscilla Hon (AUS) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Tereza Valentova (CZE) d. Aoi Ito (JPN) 6-2, 6-0
Flashback: Czech dominance at Prague 2015
Final: [1] Karolina Pliskova d. [Q] Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Semifinalist: Katerina Siniakova
Quarterfinalists: [WC] Denisa Satralova (née Allertova), [3] Barbora Strycova, [WC] Klara Koukalova
