Carolína Šrámková defends the women’s title as Viktor Byrtus claims his first in Prague
The Czech nationals were played in Prague over the last four days on the glass court in Galerie Harfa shopping mall. Earlier rounds didn´t bring many surprises. Martin Štěpán was the only player who beat higher seed (3/4 seed Ondřej Vorlíček) to make it to the semifinals.
The first three semifinals were fairly straightforward. Anna Serme avenged her loss from last year at the same stage to Michaela Čepová. Viktor Byrtus proved he is more experienced than 18 years old Martin Štěpán and Karolína Šrámková beat first time semifinalist Tamara Holzbauerová.
The last of the semis brought one of the best matches Czech nationals have ever seen. 4 times national champion (2018-2021) Daniel Mekbib met 3 times national champion (2022-2024) Jakub Solnický. The match had absolutely everything, great clean squash and plenty of drama. Daniel looked the winner at 2 games to 1 and 10/7 but Jakub never gave up.
He saved 6 matchballs to win the fourth game 17/15. In the fifth he got a great start but Daniel managed come back close to him again. At the end Jakub managed to win 11/8, both players collapsed on the floor and stayed there for a minute while the crowd was giving them standing ovations.
In the women’s final Karolína Šrámková proved she is the best Czech player although she is only 18 years old. She dominated the first two games. In the third Anna Serme got to 8/3 lead but Karolína kept putting her under a lot of pressure and managed to turn the score to 12/10 to win her second consecutive title in 28 minutes.
The Men’s final was played between two teammates who spent years training with each other. Viktor Byrtus started better against Jakub Solnický and was always in front in the first two games. In the third with the win and first title getting very close he became nervous and made some mistakes. This helped Jakub save two matchballs to win 14/12. The crowd was wondering whether he is able to perform the same miracle like the day before. This time it was not to be. Viktor kept his composure, got a good lead and won the fourth 11/6 to win her maiden national men´s title in 58 minutes.
Bronze medal was won by Tamara Holzbauerová who recieved a walkover as Michaela Čepová fell ill and was unable to play. Men’s third place match was another drama between experienced Daniel Mekbib and fast improving Martin Štěpán. This time the experience managed to beat the youth but only just, 11/9 in the fifth.
