In Sports News this Monday: Lucie Šafářová fails to clinch doubles’ WTA finals title; Tomáš Berdych drops out of top 10; Viktoria Plzeň lead Czech football Czech league; and high scoring Kometa Brno hit eight to top ice hockey table.
Doubles winning run ends at Singapore for Lucie Šafářová
Lucie Šafářová, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Ekaterina Makarova, Elena Vesnina, photo: CTK
In tennis, Lucie Šafářová and US doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands failed to make it 19 winning matches in a row at the WTA Finals event in Singapore. They lost in straight sets 6:7, 3:6 to the Russian pairing of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. The Russian win means that India’s Sania Mirza remains the top ranked world doubled player. Looking back on a year, the Czech-US pair have won four tournaments, including the US Open, and reached the finals of another two. That’s meant a lot for Šafářová given her disappointing singles form.
Tomáš Berdych drops out of men’s top 10
Tomáš Berdych, photo: si.robi, CC BY-SA 2.0
Staying with tennis, Czech men’s number one singles player Tomáš Berdych has dropped out of the top 10 rankings for the first time since mid-2010 after a series of defeats and injury. The fall to 11th place follows a month’s lay off due to injury, absence from the US Open, and a series of defeats in October. Croat Milan Čilič moves up to 10th spot in the singles ranking and is set to play in the season ending Masters’ tournament.
Ten-men Viktoria Plzeň hold on to win and top football league
Dukla Praha - Viktoria Plzeň, photo: CTK
In football, reigning champions Viktoria Plzeň claimed back the leadership of the top Czech league after a 1:0 away win against Dukla Praha. Plzeň took the lead with a headed goal from close range by Tomáš Hořava. But mid-fielder Milan Petržela was given the red card in the 30th minute and Plzeň spent much of the rest of the match holding onto the thin lead against increasingly desperate Dukla attacks.
Viktoria Plzeň manager Roman Pivarník explained how the team tried to shut out Dukla after they were down to 10-men for 60 minutes of the match: “We tried to dominate the midfield and force Dukla to play down the sides. That is what we bet on. We played the match tactically and that is how we held on and got the result that we got.” Second placed Mladá Boleslav lost ground on the lead after losing 1:2 at home in the top of the table clash with Zlín.
Dominik Kubalík scores four for Plzeň but Kometa Brno win
Dominik Kubalík, photo: CTK
In ice hockey, Kometa Brno head the Tipsport extraliga with a three point gap on second placed Třinec. Brno played a high scoring roller coaster 17th round match against Plzeň. Dominik Kubalík scored four goals for the West Bohemian visitors but they still ended up the losers with the final score 8:5.
