The United States vs the Czech Republic was the bumper tie of this selection of matches at the Davis Cup and it certainly did not disappoint.
Ben Shelton and Learner Tien appeared for the United States, while Jakub Mensik and Jiri Lehecka starred for the Czech Republic in what felt like a classic Davis Cup tie.
The tie was eventually won by the Czech Republic 3-2, after Mensik defeated Shelton and Lehecka beat Tien in the final two matches in front of what was a packed-out O2 Arena in Prague.
12,000 fans packed in to watch the Davis Cup tie across the weekend in what was the first time the Czech Republic have played at the venue since 2013.
There is clearly major demand for a big ATP Tour tournament in Prague and the incredible turnout for the Davis Cup should convince tennis organisers to add another event to the schedule.
It could even be hosted at the Prague Arena, which has history as an iconic tennis setting.
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The city and arena hosted the very first Laver Cup tie back in 2017, which saw Team Europe topple Team World for the very first time.
The likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, and Nick Kyrgios appeared across the tournament and that too was well attended, with 18,000 spectators in attendance.
There is currently an ATP Challenger Tour event hosted in Prague, but there is not an ATP-level event currently in the nation, which is frankly baffling.
With so many top stars from the Czech Republic, across the ATP and WTA Tours, it is frankly astonishing that there is not a big men’s tennis event in the country.
The WTA Tour currently has the Ostrava Open, which this year was won by Katie Boulter, but that is only a WTA 250 tournament. It began life as a WTA 500 event, and was won by the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejčíková, but it was demoted to a WTA 250 event in 2026.
The likes of Lehecka, Mensik, Karolina Muchova, Linda Noskova, and Karolina Pliskova deserve to have a bigger platform to celebrate just how good Czech tennis is right now.
The popularity of the Davis Cup in Prague has only been further proof of the nation’s insatiable appetite for the sport and the ATP Tour should absolutely cash in on that fact.
Additionally, the Czech Republic will now be one of the favourites to win the Davis Cup Finals, which would only enhance the argument for bigger tennis tournaments in the nation.
