KPM CONSULT Czech Open 2008 (ITF2)

KPM CONSULT Czech Open 2008

The fourteenth year of the international wheelchair tennis clay tournament for both men and women KPM CONSULT Czech Open 2008 was exceptionally hosted by Brno sport area CLUB CLASSIC. But still it attracted a large number of very good players. Fifty five players participated in this tournament, categorized in ITF2 Series and subsidized with eight thousand Euro.

The greatest crowd-puller was the men’s category Main Draw, as expected. Tournament’s number one was Pole Tadeusz Kruszelnicki (8th in IWTA ranking). The next two seeded came from Sweden, they were Stefan Olsson (10th) and Peter Wikström (14t). Joachim Gerard from Belgium (17th) was the last one seeded in the elite foursome. In the first round German Steffen Sommerfeld (26th) had a free draw, local Miroslav Brychta, Lee Carter from Canada (3rd) and Slovak Jozef Felix (37th ) as well. In addition to Miroslav Brychta six Czech players took part in the Main Draw. Michal Stefanu from Náchod was the one, who surprisingly did best. He was eliminated only in quarter-final in singles and he even experienced the atmosphere of semi-final in doubles. The first two rounds and quarter-final tourney didn’t bring any surprise. Kruszelnicki beat Michal Stefanu (6/1, 6/1), Gerard eliminated Carter (6/2, 6/0), Wikström outplayed Sommerfeld (6/2, 6/2) and Olsson finished Felix (6/2, 6/1). Both the semi-final matches brought a dramatic show. In the first match very young Gerard performed a magnificent play, in the first set he forced one generation older Kruszelnicki to play to the score 7/5 score. Nevertheless it was Kruszelnicki who won this one. The second set was a matter of players’ experience, so that Kruszelnicki advanced to the final after the victory 7/5, 6/1. The second semi-final was even more dramatic. Both the Swedish world champions met and only the third set was decisive. In the end Stefan Olsson beat Peter Wikström 6/4, 0/6, 6/3 and he became the second finalist. The final itself was supposed to be a very young Olsson’s game, who beat Kruszelnicki already twice in the winter indoor tournament in Průhonice. But that was a premature presumption. Kruszelnicki rushed into the final match as a space rocket, which Olsson wasn’t able to stop. The Polish prodigy won 6/3, 6/2 and his joy and spontaneity seemed endless.

Interesting matches were played out also in the competition of doubles. Four pairs were seeded: Wikström - Olsson, Kruszelnicki – Felix, Dobbie – Gerard and Carter – Mathieu. Almost all these pairs confirmed, that their good positions in ranking are not a chance and they got reached as far as to the semi-final. The only surprise was arranged by Michal Stefanu and Steffen Sommerfeld, who eliminated the fourth seeded pair Carter – Mathieu 6/1, 6/2. First semi-final was positively a Swedish thing. Wikström with Olsson smoothly eliminated Dobbie with Gerard 6/1, 6/1. Kruszelnicki with Felix had to fight Sommerfeld and Stefanuhard, to beat them 6/4, 7/5 and to become the second finalist. The final it self introduced wheelchair tennis of the best quality, which was a credit of both the pairs. Swedes were better-coordinated in the end, so that they beat Kruszelnicki and Felix 6/2, 3/6, 6/3 in a three-set battle and they rightly obtained tournament laurels.

Women’s Main Draw’s favourite in singles was the highest seeded player Mie Yaosa (7th) from Japan. Tournament’s number two was Agnieszka Bartczak from Poland (10th) Top four consisted of these two and Maaike Smit from Netherlands (16th) and German player Katharina Kruger (18th). Apart from Katharina Kruger all the seeded players went through the eliminator matches as far as to the semi-final. Both highest seeded players were successful, when Yaosa eliminated Smit 6/1, 6/2 and Bartczak outplayed the next Japanese Chokyu 6/3, 6/3. Japanese-Polish women final was exactly as dramatic as men’s matches. Mie Yaosa needed three sets to beat Polish representative Agnieszka Bartczak 5/7, 6/3, 6/2 and obtained the first title in the tournament organized in Czech Republic. In women’s doubles only four pairs came out to play and that’s why it was played in the chart system way. Japanese-Dutch pair Domori-Smit was the most successful. Yaosa and Okabe took the second place and the fourth position belongs to Petra Kruger and Agnieszka Bartczak.

Antony Cotterill from Great Britain did best in the chart system among the five players of the Quad category, his compatriot Chris Johnson secured the second place and Austrian Peter Tatschl came third.


Results from KPM CONSULT Czech Open 2008 for Download - here.