TOP TENNIS STARS WILL COMPETE IN OSTRAVA
Fourteen of the world’s top twenty women tennis players will be coming to Ostrava in October for a WTA tournament – the Ostrava Open.
Czech star Petra Kvitová has confirmed her participation at the Ostrava Open.
The J&T Banka Ostrava Open 2020 will be held in the Ostravar Arena from 17 to 25 October. The tournament is replacing the originally planned Zhengzhou Open, and it will be ranked in the Premier category.
Ostrava’s Mayor Tomáš Macura expressed his satisfaction: “I’m delighted that our city will be the venue for such a prestigious tournament. In the past, we’ve succeeded in hosting Fed Cup and Davis Cup matches to an excellent standard, so we know we’re able to provide the highest quality of facilities to the world’s top players.”
Deputy Mayor Andrea Hoffmannová, whose area of responsibility includes sport and education, added: “Being chosen to host such a world-leading event is a recognition of our excellent sports venues and organizing teams, and it’s a great advertisement for Ostrava as a city. I hope that the situation will make it possible for spectators to be present at the arena to enjoy the tennis.”
As a Premier-category tournament, the Ostrava Open will offer the opportunity to collect up to 470 points for the WTA rankings – making it one of the most prestigious tennis events ever to take place in the Czech Republic. Players ranked in the world top ten (including the leading Czech stars) will be able to participate without limitations, guaranteeing a very high quality of competition. Fourteen players from the world top twenty have already confirmed their participation, and the organizers still have four wild cards available. Romanian star Simona Halep has expressed her preliminary interest, so she could be the fifteenth player from the global top twenty to take part.
The top four Czech women will be competing at the Ostrava Open – Karolína Plíšková, Petra Kvitová, Markéta Vondroušová and Karolína Muchová. Their opponents will include Elina Svitolina, Sofia Kenin, Kiki Bertens, Johanna Konta, Victoria Azarenka, Aryna Sabalenka, Garbiñe Muguruza, Madison Keys and Angelique Kerber.
According to the organizers, the Ostrava Arena will be able to host up to three thousand spectators per day. Tickets will be on sale from 1 October. Information about ticket sales and public health measures will be published on the tournament website at jtbankaopen.cz.