The Prague Open suffered a setback even before it began as the top seed and World No. 5 Karolina Pliskova, a former champion at this tournament, had to withdraw due to viral illness. Pliskova, who lost a tight Round of 16 clash to Victoria Azarenka at Stuttgart last week, has not been able to train fully due to it and that prompted her decision to pull out.
In the revised draw, another Czech veteran, Barbora Strycova, placed at 39th in the world rankings, has taken Pliskova's place. An all-Czech quarter-final with sixth seed Katerina Siniakova is on the horizon and will have the full backing of the crowd, should it happen.
World No. 13 Anastasija Sevastova, who made it to the quarters in Stuttgart, will be looking to continue that form as this WTA International tournament's second seed. World No. 16 Qiang Wang is enjoying one of the best phases of her career, which was evident from her quarter-final finish at Miami and pre-quarters in Indian Wells.
The Chinese has been given the third seeding and begins her challenge against Margarita Gasparyan.
As the fourth seed and last year's runner-up, World No. 29 Mihaela Buzarnescu has a tough first round face-off against former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Here is all you need to know about the Prague Open:
Tournament name: J&T Banka Prague Open - Prague, Czech Republic
Date: April 29-May 4, 2019
Category: International
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Surface: Clay
Where to watch the Prague Open in the USA?
Tennis Channel will show the Prague Open live in the USA.
Where to watch the Prague Open in the UK & Europe?
BT Sport will show the Prague Open live in the UK and Ireland. BeIn will show it live in Belgium, France and Turkey. DAZN will telecast it in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Netherlands, the tournament will be beamed live on FOX Sports. Local telecast will be on O2 Czech Sports.
Where to watch the Prague Open in India?
There will be no live telecast of the Prague Open in India.
Live Stream Details and Info for the Prague Open
Live Stream for the Prague Open is available on Tennis TV (a subscription is needed for the service).
2019 Prague Open news, updates, schedule, results and more on Sportskeeda