It was always likely to be a difficult hurdle to clear and so it proved as Canada’s girls crashed to defeat against top seeds Czech Republic during the opening round of matches at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals in Prostejov.

A powerful and highly-fancied Czech outfit muscled past their rivals 3-0 after singles victories for Laura Samsonova and Alena Kovackova preceded doubles glory for Samsonova and Eliska Forejtkova.

It was a tough day for Canada as Clemence Mercier and Nadia Lagaev battled stoically before succumbing to defeat in singles, while Mercier and Andrea Cabio were powerless to stem the tide, with the Czechs surging to the summit of Group A.

In Kovackova, Czech Republic have a player who tops Tennis Europe’s 14-and-under rankings and is European champion in singles and doubles. For context, Samsonova and Forejtkova are ranked Nos 4 and 5 respectively so the Czechs have serious pedigree.

There is certainly no disgrace in Canada losing although much now rides on their two remaining group matches. The loss, however, added to an arduous start to proceedings in Prostejov which has included a frantic dash to H&M for some emergency clothes shopping.

“H&M is the store for us right now,” Canada captain Severine Tamborero told itftennis.com. “It’s a situation we’re laughing about but two out of the three girls on the team are missing their luggage.

“We always say to players they should expect the unexpected and that’s exactly how it has turned out. One of our players was travelling in Austria for a tournament before joining part of the team in the Netherlands and heading to Germany.

“When she came in, her luggage was not with her. Then, when we travelled from Germany to Czech Republic, another girl’s luggage didn’t arrive. We couldn’t believe it. We’ve learned today that one case is going back to Toronto, while the other is still out there somewhere.

“But I guess it’s all part of the experience and part of travelling, and we’ve been able to go shopping together. As I say, H&M is the store for us and hopefully we’re going to get sponsored given the amount of clothing we’ve bought."

The priority for Canada now is to dust themselves down ahead of tomorrow’s showdown, which is likely to go some distance to determining whether they remain in the hunt for a top-two finish in their group and secure a place in the quarter-finals.

“We anticipated this match to be honest and everybody wanted to play the best players in the world in this age-group and, today, we did,” Tamborero added.

“For sure, Czech Republic are an excellent team. It is never easy playing a team that good in their own country, and they showed why they are No. 1. We’ve been outplayed but now it is about how we get out of this day, put it behind us and focus on what’s ahead.”

Elsewhere, two girls’ ties were determined by a decisive doubles showdown. One was an enthralling battle between Korea, Republic and Argentina, which was eventually claimed by the former as Heewon Ju and Haeum Lee prevailed in the doubles.

The second was Brazil's skirmish with Australia which went the way of the South Americans after Victoria Barros and Leticia Marangoni united to great effect. 

The other tussles were resolved by the time of the doubles, although there was still plenty to play for in the final matches as doubles results could well have a significant bearing on the overall outcome of the group.

There were wins for Slovakia, Germany, Japan, USA and Great Britain over Tunisia, Egypt, India, Serbia and Latvia respectively. 

A full list of results from day one of the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals is available here.