It won’t be wrong to say that women’s tennis is taking over Czechia. The biggest example of this was seen at the recently concluded WTA Prague Open. The tournament attracted good crowds in almost all the rounds, but the attendance increased significantly in the final of both the singles and doubles draws. Many tennis fans were left stunned by the numbers that the tournament pulled.

Both finals were played at the LiveSport Arena. The doubles final was played between Maia Lumsden and Harriet Dart and Laura Samson and Lucie Havlickova. Lumsden and Dart racked up a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 victory to clinch the title. The two pairs attracted a solid crowd, and while the arena wasn’t sold out, it was still impressive to see so many people show up for a doubles final at a WTA 250 event.

A similar case happened in the singles final between Daria Snigur and Lilli Tagger. The latter won the match 7-6, 6-2 in front of a massive crowd in the Czech capital. What made the crowd attendance even more impressive was that no Czech players were involved in either the singles or doubles finals.

While the official attendance numbers haven’t been released by the tournament yet, they are expected to be quite impressive. A big reason why women’s tennis in particular is growing well in Czechia is due to the monumental success of their players on the international stage.

The Prague Open was contested just weeks after both Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova reached the singles final at Wimbledon. It proved to be quite a grueling encounter, but Noskova eventually triumphed 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. This was the third time in four years that a Czech player had clinched the women’s singles crown at SW19.

Notably, Marketa Vondrousova had won the coveted title in 2023 by defeating Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4. Barbora Krejcikova had then defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in the final of the 2024 edition. Wimbledon has been the one Grand Slam where Czech players have dominated, especially in the women’s singles draw.

While there are multiple talented Czech players on the ATP circuit as well, including Jiri Lehecka and Jakub Mensik, it is clear that the hype is currently all around women’s tennis. There are currently seven Czech players in the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Muchova and Noskova are the two highest-ranked players from the country. They are ranked No. 6 and 7, respectively, and can improve even further in the upcoming hard-court season.

The two were even invited to the Prague Castle by Czechia’s President Petr Pavel after their success at Wimbledon. So, it wasn’t a big surprise that the Prague Open drew large crowds for the majority of the tournament. But the fans were still left quite impressed with the attendance numbers in both the singles and doubles finals of the event.

Fans weigh in on Prague Open’s attendance for the finals

A fan felt that Czechia isn’t a bad option for a Masters 1000 event. “I would have loved to see the Masters in Czechia; I’m not sure if there was a bid, but it would have been great.”

Another fan highlighted how the all-Czech women’s singles final at Wimbledon had a big impact on the attendance at the Prague Open. “It’s a great tennis country anyway. But having TWO of their ladies in the Wimbledon final just a couple of weeks ago was a huge help.”

A fan congratulated the Czech tennis fans after seeing the massive crowd numbers at the Prague Open. “Brawo czescy kibice!” (“Bravo to the Czech fans”)

Finally, a fan was very happy to know that tennis is growing well in Czechia. “It’s nice to see that.”

Notably, no more ATP or WTA events are scheduled to be held in Czechia for the remainder of the year. It remains to be seen if more tournaments will be organized in the country in the coming years if the public continues to show their interest in the sport, just like how they did in Prague.