Crowds of Czech tennis players plagued by health and physical problems will start the French Open with much less ambition than before.

“It is a pity that the Czechs, especially Markéta Vondroušová, Bára Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková, who are very good on clay, have health problems or are currently not physically well,” said Sestini Hlaváčková in an interview with Aktuálně.cz.

Barbora Krejčíková had to defend last year’s sensational win after a long break with an elbow injury. Before the second grand slam of the season he had not had time to play a single match on clay, he had been out since late February.

Markéta Vondroušová prefers to leave Paris, where she played in the final three years ago, and underwent left wrist surgery. Kateřina Siniaková has only played two games and not all of them. In Madrid, in the second round, he continued his channel duel with Jelena Rybakinová.

And experienced representatives Karolína Plíšková and Petra Kvitová have more defeats in statistics this season than wins.

“Petra and Karolína are also not the best physically, moreover, they don’t have high hopes. Expectations are not too high,” said Sestini Hlaváčková, a two-time Fed Cup winner who ended his active career in the fall. year 2018.

Apart from Plíšková and Kvitová, Tereza Martincová and Kateřina Siniaková also have negative balances this season. Only five Czech players “fragile” Karolína Muchová played this year in just five games, so Marie Bouzková is the most reliable domestic tennis player of the year. Twenty-one wins had accumulated.

However, the season’s second grand slam favorite lies elsewhere. The main one, who is very dominant in the Paris region is Ika wiateková. The current world number one has won five tournaments in a row and extended her winning streak to an incredible 28 consecutive matches.

“His quality is outstanding. He prepares well physically and mentally, and his expectations are very high,” said the 2011 Paris doubles winner on behalf of the 20-year-old queen, who dominated Roland Garros two years ago.

When Sestini Hlaváčková had to name another player who could threaten Roland Garros, the names of world number six Ons Džabúrová of Tunisia and, less convincingly, world number four, Marie Sakkari of Greece, came out of his mouth.

In the women’s top in recent months, there has been a fundamental shift in the biggest favorites.

“It’s interesting that the biggest names in women’s tennis are suddenly not the biggest favorites,” ESPN expert and former player Patrick McEnroe said this week.

He raised a new wave, besides wiateková, he named the Spanish Paula Badosa, Estonian Anett Kontaveitová, Sakkari, Jabrová and Krejčíková. According to him, these players are overshadowed by former Grand Slam champions and other regulars, such as Kvitová, Plíšková, Angelique Kerberová, Sloane Stephensová, Garbiňa Muguruzaová, Simona Halepová or Viktoria Azarenková.

“Yeah, I also feel like a big change. Older girls are still making fun of them, they’re still trying to keep up, we’ll have to look at Karolina and Petra, but the change is definitely coming and there are other favourites,” said Sestini Hlaváčková.

According to him, tennis moves fast. “Players have been traveling with fitness coaches and physiotherapists since the start of their careers, they are much more ready for performance. Tennis is more physical, much stronger,” he said.

Even in Czech tennis, a gradual change of generations took place. The hungry teenager also started running forward. 17-year-old Linda Nosková, last year’s Paris junior winner, qualified for a week and will be playing in an adult grand slam for the first time. Linda Fruhvirtová and Nikola Bartůňková have already partially advanced on the circuit.

“I can clearly see the impact of previous generations of Czech players who motivated these girls so much with their success. They showed them that it is not impossible to reach the absolute top and deserve to be there,” said Sestini Hlaváčková.

He has words of admiration and praise for the young “miracle”, but at the same time warns against being overloaded at an early age.

“They all have great opportunities, the only thing that kept me from big predictions is their health readiness, because they train very hard from a very young age.

“It’s great that they have had a huge success, I wish them well and I want them to be taken over by an administrative coach who can balance it, and an administrative manager who won’t just throw their hands off the tennis court. activities,” concluded Sestini Hlaváčková.