Sports News
Sport now, and the Czech players continue to tumble at the US Open at Flushing Meadows, although their cause isn't being helped one jot by seemingly always facing top-ten opposition. Kveta Hradlickova was the next player on the Venus Williams hit list. The lanky Wimbledon champion--number three seed at this year's Open--extended her winning run to 21 matches with a 6-1 6-1 crushing of her Czech opponent in the second round.
There was better luck for Adriana Gersi, though. She only needed a single set, won on a tiebreak, to progress into Round 3. Gersi's French opponent, Nathelie Dechy, was forced to retire from the match after that due to injury. The other Czech woman left in the competition is Sandra Kleinova. She's in action Thursday against that darling of the court, the Russian Anna Kournikova.
In the men's, Petr Kralert bowed out in round two with a straight-sets defeat to the Argentinean Augustin Calleri. There's still some hope of a Czech player making the second week, though. Jiri Novak takes on the Zimbabwean Byron Black for a place in the third round, and Slava Dosedel meets Carlos Moya of Spain.
Turning to football, and the pressure cooker that is the Gambrinus League suffered its first coaching casualty on Tuesday when Brno parted company with Karel Jarusek. Jarusek has paid the price for the Moravian club's terrible start to the season--they currently lie rock bottom of the division with a solitary point from their five league matches to date.
The man entrusted with steadying the Brno ship is Pavel Tobias, who was sacked as coach of Ceske Budejovice at the end of last season. "I didn't have to think so long about their offer," said Tobias.
Pavel Nedved, one of the stars of Euro 2000, has been appointed captain of his country. The Lazio midfielder will lead out the Czechs for their vital opening World Cup qualifyer in Bulgaria on Saturday, taking over the armband from Jiri Nemec, who retired from international football after the Championships in Holland and Belgium. Allegedly, anyway.
