Czechs reach David Cup semis

After defeating Argentina 3-2 in the Davis Cup, the Czechs are moving on to the semifinals, and tennis fans can expect even more from an eventful second half of the year.

On the heels of victory against Argentina in Ostrava this past weekend, the biggest professional tournament held in this country, the Prague Open, is under way and will run through July 19 on the clay courts at the Štvanice tennis center in Prague 13. Tennis greats of the past and present are scheduled to hit in Prague. In the main women's tournament, most attention will be on Slovakia's Dominika Cibulková, who made waves in June by reaching the semifinals at the French Open in Paris.

On top of that, men's tennis legends Pat Cash of Australia and Henri Leconte of France will take part in an exhibition singles match July 19, and they will also team up with on-court showman Mansour "The Man Behind the Mustache" Bahrami of Iran and retired Czech star Bohdan Ulihrach for a doubles match.

Later this year, Česká sportovní, the sports marketing agency that brought Pete Sampras last year for an exhibition against Radek Štěpánek, has slated a glamorous exhibition for Prague in the fall.

Former world No. 1s, German Boris Becker and Swedes Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg, will come Nov. 21 to play exhibition matches with Leconte, Germany's Carl-Uwe Steeb and Eric Jelen, and Czechs Karel Nováček and Jiří Novák. The event should feature two singles and two doubles matches.

And for tennis enthusiasts ready to travel, there is of course the Davis Cup Semifinals Sept. 18-20 in Croatia.  

Messiah or mess

While much of the Czech soccer community seems to view Ivan Hašek as a messiah for the country's national team, the 45-year-old may have begun his work believing this himself.

Hašek, who in late June was appointed the new head of the Czech Football Association (ČMFS), appointed himself the new national team head coach July 7. Hašek's decision came as Slavia Praha Coach Karel Jarolím declined the seat on the Czech team bench.

"I know such a move is not a regular solution," Hašek said. "But we had to act fast, and this was the fastest possible thing we could do."

In actuality, Hašek accepted the chairmanship of the soccer association after more than half a year's hesitation. He most recently coached in the United Arab Emirates. Many anticipated that Hašek would clean house and shed the remains of the previous corruption-ridden national team management, but his initial steps as ČMFS chairman have shown no clear strategy for achieving his goals, with him largely turning to old friends to make up the difference.

His preferred coach, Jarolím, had coached with him in Strasbourg, France, in the early 2000s. His new assistant coach for the national team is to be the unheralded coach Luděk Klusáček, whom he worked with in Dubai. Hašek has said the team's new sports manager should be Vladimír Šmicer, who still plays for Slavia Praha. Hašek noted that as a condition for Šmicer's appointment he must retire as a player. Šmicer, however, extended his contract with Slavia just a few weeks ago.

Hašek denies that his early days in the new post are chaos-ridden, saying, "I've counted on reliable people whom I trust."

Russian money

Just weeks after skating in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Detroit Red Wings, Czech hockey forward Jiří Hudler announced a surprising move to Russia. Hudler, 25, signed a two-year contract with Dynamo Moscow, opting to go after failing to reach a contract agreement with the Red Wings, who lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"The Russians offered me the most lucrative contract of my career," Hudler said, without elaborating on the details.

By moving from the National Hockey League to Russia, Hudler follows star forward Jaromír Jágr, who fled the New York Rangers last year for the Avangard Omsk in the Russian Continental Hockey League.

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com