Success on court brings big names

A possible late-April showdown of tennis' Williams sisters could become an unexpected highlight of the sports season in the Czech Republic.

The unexpected became possible after the Czech women's tennis team beat Spain 4-1 in the Fed Cup World Elite Group's first round Feb. 7-8 in Brno. In the cup's semifinals, the Czechs are scheduled to host the winner of the match between the United States and Argentina in the last weekend in April. Although the possible appearance of Venus and Serena Williams would most likely halt the Czech team's run, the whole tennis community believes that the star players will be seen in action on Czech courts.

Czech team captain Petr Pála said the challenge against the U.S. team would be a win-win opportunity for the Czech team that advanced to the Fed Cup finals for the first time in 12 years.

"If the Williams sisters played against us, it would make the game very special for the whole tennis community here, despite being major underdogs in that game. … If they did not take part, we'd be favorites to advance to the final," Pála explained.

"We hope that we'll put together our best tennis and will be able to compete against the Williams sisters," said Czech player Petra Kvitová moments after beating Nuria Llagostera in straight sets Feb. 8.

Kvitová was so excited about her win and the prospect of encountering the Williams sisters that she ignored the fact that the United States were at that time locked in a 1-1 tie in their first round match against Argentina and that the Williams sisters did not play on the U.S. team in the first round.

Neither Serena nor Venus Williams has ever played in the Czech Republic, and, given the absence of a major tennis tournament in this country, the Fed Cup is the only opportunity to bring them over.

"The Fed Cup gives us great opportunity to bring some star players here," Czech Tennis Association President Ivo Kaderka said.

Pála said even if the Czechs were eventually playing starless Argentina or the U.S. team without the Williams sisters, the semifinal would pose a great challenge.

"We'd have a great chance to celebrate," he said.

Men ready for French challenge

Meanwhile, the Czech men's team is getting ready to take on the star-studded French team in the Davis Cup match set for March 6-8 in Ostrava. The French team will be led by the world's No. 8 player, Gilles Simon, and two other players ranked within the top 15 in the ATP standings, Gael Monfils (12th) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (14th), will join him. The "worst" French player in the lineup, Richard Gasquet, ranked 26th in the ATP standings in early February.

The Czechs hope that the country's top two players, Radek Štěpánek (20th in the ATP) and Tomáš Berdych (23rd), will give the French team a good fight. Berdych recently took Swiss star Roger Federer to five sets in the Australian Open in late January, the biggest tournament played so far this season.

Given the major gap between Berdych and Štěpánek and the other Czech players, nonplaying captain Jaroslav Navrátil is likely to field the two players in all matches, including four singles and a doubles match. The other members of the Czech team will be singles player Jan Hernych (78th on the ATP) and doubles specialist Lukáš Dlouhý, who advanced with India's Leander Paes to the semifinals of men's doubles in the Australian Open.

Hockey team has cold showing

In Scandanavia, the Czech hockey team suffered a debacle in the Sweden Hockey Games, a part of the Euro Hockey Tour. Not only did the Czechs lose all three games against Finland, Sweden and Russia, they also conceded 17 goals in the three games. It was only the fourth time since the launch of Euro Hockey Tour in 1996 that the Czech team failed to win a single point in a tour event.

Still, head coach Vladimír Růžička tried to remain upbeat.

"It was definitely not a good tournament for us," Růžička said. "But at least it opened our eyes before the World Championship [in April]. We saw many things that we have to improve by then."

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com