Czech Me Out: Tennis Insights

This hits differently!

Last week, we saw a couple of players win tour-level trophies for the first time on the ATP and WTA tours. One certain Czech player, Jiří Lehečka stole the headlines at Adelaide but there’s more to unpack.

New Video‼ 

We didn’t upload a video this week because we are working on “something special” that you have never seen before on any tennis-related YouTube channel, website, or platform, so make sure to watch this space in the coming week. Also, you can expect a NEW video in the next couple of days. 

What Happened Last Week?

Adelaide International (January 8-13)

We saw Jiří Lehečka win his maiden ATP title as the 7th seed in Adelaide after getting the better of Jack Draper in the final, 4-6,6-4,6-3 in what was a battle of big-hitting 22-year-olds. Earlier in the tournament, Lehečka had taken out third seed Seb Korda in the semis and second seed Nicholas Jarry in the quarterfinal. 

Meanwhile, Draper had gotten the better of Alexander Bublik in the semis and top seed Tommy Paul in the quarterfinal. Lehecka is the first Czech ATP Tour titlist since Jiri Vesely in 2020. On the women’s side, No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko beat Daria Kasatkina to the title. The win saw Ostapenko claim her 7th career Hologic WTA Tour title and 4th at WTA 500 level or above.

ASB Classic (January 8-13)

After Taro Daniel pulled off an incredible upset against top seed Ben Shelton in the semifinal and Alejandro Tabilo beat 6th seed Arthur Fils convincingly, we knew that we were on to something. But it was Tabilo who would end up getting the better of Taro Daniel in the final to cap off a memorable run in Auckland to clinch his maiden ATP Tour title at the ASB Classic. The 26-year-old Alejandro Tabilo dropped just one set across six matches, including two in qualifying. Following his triumph, he became the first Chilean to win a tour-level hard-court title since Fernando Gonzalez in 2007. 

Hobart International  (January 8-13)

Rising American Emma Navarro captured the first Hologic WTA Tour title of her career on Saturday, after beating two-time champion Elise Mertens 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Interestingly, Navarro was ranked No.149 at this time last year but has reached remarkable heights to her current career-high ranking of No.31.

Ranking Update: The Biggest Movers Of The Week 

ATP

No changes in the Top 10. However, Jiří Lehečka’s Adelaide title win sees him move 9 spots up and to a new career high of world no. 23. Elsewhere, Alejandro Tabilo’s Auckland title win sees him move 33 spots up and into the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Taro Daniel moves +16 spots up after reaching the final in Auckland.

WTA

On the women’s side, We have Jelena Ostapenko returning to the Top 10 for the first time since September 2018. What a week for the Latvian. Meanwhile, Emma Navarro’s title win at Hobart will see her hit a new career high of world no. 26 once the rankings get updated tomorrow.

But what tournaments do we have coming up?

Major Tournament Updates 

Australian Open (January 14-28)

Matteo Berrettini just withdrew from the AO with a right foot injury, putting an end to the matchup against Stefanos Tsitsipas that we were all looking forward to. But not to worry, we have other first-round blockbusters. Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on 2020 AO finalist Dominic Thiem, while in-form home favorite and world no. 10 Alex de Minaur will have to pass a big-serving test from Canadian Milos Raonic. Novak Djokovic could face former World No. 1 Andy Murray in a potential third-round blockbuster.

On the women’s side, we have former world no. 2 Paula Badosa returning to the tour but it is not just her. Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, three-time major winner Angelique Kerber, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova and Amanda Anisimova are all looking to make a splash with their return.

What are your predictions on both tours?

Watch Out For This Guy

Dino Prižmić

After giving Novak Djokovic a run for his money in the first round at the Australian Open, we have every reason to believe that the Croatian teenager will be a future champion. His power, defense, and confidence were on another level and although we won’t be seeing him again at this year’s Australian Open since he lost to Nole in 4 sets, you might want to keep an eye on him because he’ll be back.

HOT TAKE

It’s the Australian Open and we all have our Dark horses for the title. Although Novak Djokovic is the overwhelming favorite for the title, if you were to pick a dark horse who would it be? Jack Draper? Grigor Dimitrov? Nico Jarry? Alex De Minaur? Ben Shelton? For us, the best picks outside the Top 8 might be Dimitrov and Jarry.

Off The Court

Bad Homburg Open Receives WTA 500 Status

The WTA announced on Thursday that the Bad Homburg Open will be staged as a WTA 500 tournament for the 2024 season. The grass-court event held in Germany had previously been a 250-level tournament on the Hologic WTA Tour. The tournament was recently created in 2021 and Angelique Kerber, Caroline Garcia and most recently Katerina Siniakova have been crowned as champions. The prize money for the tournament will be tripled to almost $1 million with the event set to begin on June 24. The Bad Homburg Open will be permanently upgraded in 2025 to a WTA 500 event.

ATP and WTA Implement New Rules to Prevent Late Finishes

Both tours have collaborated on new scheduling rules to reduce the number of late-match finishes on the tours. In the last couple of years, players' health has been a source of concern with matches extending past midnight, leaving little time for recovery but all that is about to change. Starting from this month, there will be:

• No more than five matches per day per court (with an 11 a.m. start), with three matches during the day session and two matches during the evening session.

• No matches to go on the court after 11 p.m., unless approved by the WTA/ATP supervisor in consultation with WTA/ATP management.

• Matches not on court by 10:30 p.m. are to be moved to an alternative court -- by no later than 11 p.m.

• Night sessions are to begin no later than 7:30 p.m., with a recommendation for 6:30 p.m.

Also, a strategic review of tennis balls is underway and increasing the quality and consistency of balls during tournament swings is in the works.

Season Two of Netflix’s BreakPoint is Now Live!

Visit Netflix to watch all six episodes from the season:

• Episode 1: The Curse - Nick Kyrgios, Aryna Sabalenka

• Episode 2: Friend Or Foe - Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe

• Episode 3: The Future Is Yours - Holger Rune

• Episode 4: Unfinished Business - Alexander Zverev

• Episode 5: Now Or Never - Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari

• Episode 6: Becoming The One - Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton.

Ryan Harrison Announces His Retirement

The 31-year-old American turned pro in 2007 and reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 40 in 2017, winning his lone tour-level singles title in Memphis in the same year. Harrison wrote on Instagram, saying that after a long battle with health issues over the last few years, the time had come to put an end to his career.

John Millman Retires

The Aussie put an end to his 14-year career that saw him reach a career-high No. 33 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in October 2015 and lift a tour-level trophy in Astana in 2020. His only Top 10 win came against Federer in New York in 2018 en route to the US Open quarter-finals.

Trivia Of The Week

How many players have pushed Novak Djokovic for 4+ hours in the first round of a Grand slam? The answer might surprise you. Literally no one did until today when 18-year-old Dino Prizmic played the match of his life before losing to the Serbian in 4 sets.

Since it’s the Australian Open, we might as well leave you with some Trivia. The youngest Champion at the tournament is Mats Wilander, who won the tournament as a 19-year-old in 1983.

But before we go, we’ll leave you with some of the best highlights of the week.

Highlights Of The Week

1. Wild’s Around-The-Net Winner!

2. Prizmic Magic

3. Crazy Bublik

Until next time, keep swinging.

For the Love of Tennis