A secret bet with the winner

16th August 2020

Prague Open 2020 came to its end today. The tournament was considered as the biggest official sporting event in the Czech Republic since the COVID break. The tournament hosted around 50 WTA players, including the world no. 2 and tournament no. 1 seed Simona Halep from Romania.

She attracted lots of attention from fans all around the world, unfortunately only through social media and live streams of the matches as the tournament was, according to the WTA regulations, without spectators. Simona has introduced herself in Prague for the first time, thus, it was the first tournament for her in the renewed season. And how did she enjoy her stay in Prague?

The minute she landed in Prague, she seemed excited to be in Prague. Simona was friendly and giggly the whole week as she would always say hi to everyone in the TK Sparta Praha complex. No arrogant manners.

She showed herself as a really good ´partner in crime´ when she stayed in the complex after her match with Begu to watch the doubles semifinals from the terrace from where they were cheering on their Romanian colleagues until the late evening. She was supporting, clapping, and cheering out loud and she celebrated their win afterward the same way as she would win the match herself. The day after, she won her 21st WTA title herself.

“We all realise that we’ve been living in hard times and the tournament took place under the tough conditions, therefore, I would like to thanks even more to all organisers that we could play here. It felt amazing to be back on courts and be able to compete again. I would also like to thank David Trunda for an amazing week and hard work. I know it wasn't easy to stick with the strict rules. Because of you all, we felt safe and maybe that's why I played that well even though I was a bit bored in my hotel room after the 10 days,” laughed the happy winner. “I was in Prague 15 years ago but to be honest I don’t really remember that. I felt really good here, I love it and I hope that I’ll come back soon,” added Simona.

The win of the world No 2 is a big deal for everyone. Even the director of tournament David Trunda bet with Simona right after her arrival. If Simona wins, he and her coach with physiotherapist would jump into the river Vltava. Simona then spontaneously said that she will join them. In the evening before her final, she came up to David Trunda during the dinner and told him she remembers the bet and that she is still happy to do that. And what do you think about how it ended up? After the flower ceremony and press conferences, Simona jumped into a car with the director, her coach Artemon Apostu Efremov and physiotherapist Cosmin Diaconeasa and went to nearby Trojsky bridge where they jumped into the river Vltava. Photos of the laughing tennis player in the river will definitely flight all around the world. We believe that this moment will Simona remember forever.

By the way, did you like the extraordinary flower ceremony after the finals? Tournament’s organisers ensured to carefully meet all the social distance restrictions until the end of the tournament. No hands shake, kisses, or personal congratulations. Instead of classic flowers, the players received single roses which were pleated into their rackets during the ceremony.

“The whole tournament had a huge success, organisers did a great job and I feel really safe here. And the flower ceremony? It was definitely a unique experience but I liked it! I can definitely tell that the organisers did their best during these difficult times that the end of the tournament could feel at least a bit like a normal ceremony,” praised the unique ceremony the runner-up Elise Mertens. It was a lovely way to end the tournament, what do you say?