Czech roommates inspired by Village life in Tokyo

Somewhere in Tokyo’s Olympic Village is a four-bed dormitory housing the cream of Czech Tennis – a quartet of players with seven Grand Slam final appearances, three major titles, two spells as world No. 1 and an Olympic medal between them.

Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova and Marketa Vondrousova made a small bit of Czech Olympic history over the weekend, becoming the first quartet from the nation to all reach the second round at the Olympic Tennis Event. By day’s end, three had advanced to the last 16 in singles before heading back to base.

Krejcikova, Monday’s first Czech winner in Tokyo courtesy of a hard-earned 6-2 6-4 victory over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, is relishing her first taste of Village life as she makes her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

“I really like the Village,” said the reigning Roland Garros singles and doubles champion. “I like to spend time with other athletes from Czech Republic. We have a little room where we watch TVs and support our athletes. That is really nice. And I like having the chance to meet and talk to them – I love to hear their stories and get inspired because they are all here as the best in their sports. This is the best part of the Olympics so far.

“We have a big basketball team, I’ve spoken a lot with them. We have some swimmers, judokas, rowers, and now the track and field team – I met some of them yesterday while we were watching Petra [Kvtiova] and Tomas [Machac]. It’s perfect – this is something I’m really enjoying. But I don’t enjoy that it’s pretty packed when we go eat!”

It’s a similar story for fellow Olympic debutant Vondrousova, whose 6-1 6-2 win over Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu has teed up a third-round clash with Naomi Osaka.

“I think she is the favourite, so I’m not under any pressure,” she said of facing the top remaining seed in the women’s singles draw. “It’s a new match, a new experience – I’ve never played her before. She’s a great player, and she’s the face of tennis now, so we’ll see. But as I said, I’m not under pressure.”

As for life with her compatriots, the 22-year-old - the youngest of the quartet - said the experience so far had been ‘amazing’.

“It’s something new, and I think we are all very happy here,” Vondrousova said. “The Czech players are playing very well so far, so it’s a very nice experience. Staying with the girls, it’s very normal. We speak to each other often. We have four separate rooms, but we are sharing one apartment, so we talk a lot.”

Fresh from her Wimbledon final appearance, former world No. 1 Pliskova admits there is a balance to be struck between being compatriots and competitors.

“It is still half like a team competition, but half still playing separately, so you still look at yourself,” she explained following her 6-3 6-7(0) 6-1 win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, one of the later matches in the day’s schedule. 

“But it’s okay. Everybody has their own programme, everybody is playing matches at different times. If somebody’s waking up in the morning at 7:00am and someone wants to sleep until 10:00am it’s a little bit difficult, but we’re handling the situation pretty well.

“Sometimes we practice together or warm up, and when we can, we meet for dinner, but some days, like maybe today, we can’t make it – I’m sure they are already there.”

Monday marks the end of Kvitova’s campaign in Tokyo. The Rio 2016 bronze medallist fell in three sets to an inspired Alison van Uytvanck, who later describing the two-time former Wimbledon champion as “a legend in our sport.”

“I think it would be much harder [to take] if I didn’t have a medal in Rio," Kvitova said afterwards. But while she may not reach the podium herself at Tokyo 2020, compatriot Krejcikova believes her inspiration has played its part in forging the emerging generation of world-class talent now reaching the top of the sport.

“It’s just very nice to get inspired by them,” explained Krejcikova, top-seeded with Katerina Siniakova in a women's doubles draw that also features Pliskova and Vondrousova in the second round.

“You see Petra there, you see how she is preparing, and you gain a lot of experience. We push each other to play better and better, that’s how I feel. When we practice and do stuff together, we are constantly pushing each other to improve. There is a healthy rivalry between us, and I think that’s why all the Czech players are going up, because every single week we are inspired by one or another.”