Sports News

In Sports News this Monday: Czech women’s tennis player Petra Kvitová loses to Kerber at US Open; National soccer team earns draw against Northern Ireland in World Cup qualification debut; Červenka replaces Krejčí on roster for World Cup of Hockey.

Kvitová loses to Kerber at US Open

Petra Kvitová, photo: CTK

Fourteenth seed Petra Kvitová has been knocked out of the US Open by second-seed Angelique Kerber. Kerber advanced to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows by defeating the Czech in straight sets on Sunday night: the final score was 6-3, 7-5. Petra Kvitová, who won bronze at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio, made 43 unforced errors in the match, including seven double faults, the last on match point. After the match, Kvitová made clear she had not been this disappointed in a while:

“I haven’t been this angry with myself after a match in a while. I think my style of play is not ideal for [Kerber] and that I could have beaten her. Unfortunately, today the balls just weren’t going in.”

Kerber, who beat Serena Williams earlier year at the Australian Open, could seize the women’s No.1 ranking from Williams depending on how they both do in the rest of the tournament.

Czech national football squad draws with Northern Ireland in opening World Cup qualifier

Filip Novák (right), photo: CTK

Northern Irish fans chanted “Will Grigg is on fire” during the Czech Republic’s opening qualifying match on Sunday for the 2018 World Cup. However, Grigg nor anyone else on the pitch delivered exactly a blazing performance. The Czechs did increase the pressure in the second half and had a golden opportunity just after the hour with Filip Novák getting the ball just metres from goal; unfortunately for the Czech team, the defender fired wide. This was his response afterwards:

“I didn’t think I had any time, it doesn’t happen that often that you’re given so much room in front of goal. I thought I was under pressure and didn’t try to set it up and choose where to place it, as I was worried they would kick the ball away. And it ended up the way it did.”

The match was the competitive debut with the national squad for coach ‎Karel Jarolím who afterwards summed up the situation as such:

“At least we had chances: if we hadn’t had any it would have been worse. But we weren’t able to convert. It’s a minus, but we have to look ahead.”

The Czech Republic are in Group C and face the group’s toughest team, Germany, next. Germany already has three points, winning their debut on Sunday against Norway 3:0.

Hockey: Červenka replaces recovering Krejčí on roster for World Cup of Hockey

Roman Červenka (left), photo: archive of Czech Radio

Bad news last week that David Krejčí was out of the upcoming World Cup of Hockey in Toronto has been tempered by the addition of forward Roman Červenka to the national squad. Krejčí, who plays for the Boston Bruins, cannot take part in the prestigious tournament as he needs more time to recover from hip surgery. Červenka played for two Czech Olympic teams, in 2010 and 2014 and was on the 2010 squad which won gold at the Ice Hockey World Championships. Eight teams will compete at the World Cup from September 17 to October 1.