Krejčíková and Siniaková miss out on women’s title in Singapore but end very successful 2018 as Doubles Team of Year; Plíšková looks to make changes in bid to take first Grand Slam; and Plzeň overtake Slavia at top of table, at least briefly.
Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková, photo: Jaroslav Plašil, Czech Radio
The Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková were
beaten in the women’s doubles final at tennis’s WTA Finals in Singapore
on Sunday. The top-seeded pair lost 4-6 5-7 to the Hungarian-French duo of
Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic to miss out on what would have been the
perfect ending to a fabulous season.
Krejčíková said she and Siniaková might have done better on the day.
“We didn’t take advantage of the chances we had. Unfortunately those girls are very good, and they outplayed us. It was deserved. We have had a very decent season, and so have they. They’ve played well together. I hope we meet them again next year and that we’re the winners then!”
The two Czechs’ season was very decent indeed, including two Grand Slam titles, the French Open and Wimbledon. The pair ended the year in number one spot and earned the title WTA Doubles Team of the Year.
Karolína Plíšková, photo: AP Photo/Vincent Thian
On the singles front, Karolína Plíšková, reached the semi-finals in
Singapore, only to lose 0-6 6-4 6-1 to Sloane Stephens of the US. The world
number eight has ended another season without ever having won a Grand Slam
tournament. Plíšková says the competition is tough at the business end
of major tournaments – but her game is improving.
“All of the girls are hard to play against. They return, they fight. It’s hard to say if in the future I shouldn’t move closer to the net. I think I’ve improved at the net, which I’m proud of. This week I took a lot of points at the net and it made my life a lot easier. Maybe I need a bit more patience or another plan. Because I’m capable of winning a set, but so far winning two doesn’t work out for me.”
Petra Kvitová, photo: AP Photo/Vincent Thian
Just ahead of Plíšková in the world rankings, at seventh, is her
compatriot Petra Kvitová. Though the two-time Wimbledon winner exited in
the group stage in Singapore, Kvitová still says it has been a “great”
season for her. And it’s not over, either – she and the rest of the
Czech team will face the USA in the Davis Cup final in Prague the weekend
after
next.
Viktoria Plzeň have returned, briefly at least, to the top of Czech soccer’s top flight after a 2:1 win over Slovácko at the weekend. That put the West Bohemians one point ahead of Slavia Prague, who play their round 13 game against Dukla Prague on Monday evening, after the recording of our show.
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