Czechs plan tennis tournament with fans next week

PRAGUE: Prague will host a women’s charity tennis tournament with an audience next week, pitting two six-member teams led by Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova, organisers said Friday.

“Don’t waste the chance to watch this unique team contest,” read the tournament’s Facebook page in a bid to attract fans before ticket sales kicked off on Friday afternoon.

The June 13-15 tournament will benefit from the Czech government’s decision to allow events with up to 500 people as of June 8 within an extensive easing of measures taken in March to stem the coronavirus spread. “We will begin with fewer people. I suppose we will gradually increase the number,” tournament promoter Tomas Petera told the Czech news agency CTK.

Pliskova’s team will comprise her twin sister Kristyna, Marketa Vondrousova, Karolina Muchova, Tereza Martincova and junior Nikola Bartunkova.

Kvitova’s team includes Barbora Strycova, Katerina Siniakova, Barbora Krejcikova, the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova and junior Linda Fruhvirtova.

The Czech tennis season started with a Prague tournament played behind closed doors and won by Kvitova last week.