Both Slovakian Extraleague 2016 finals were played on May, 6 in the TC EMPIRE Trnava. Men played the final against TC Draci Matuskovo and women against TK Slovan Bratislava. Lenka Jurikova played for women’s team from Trnava, Jan Stancik played for the men’s team – both are members of LOVE 4 TENNIS Academy.
Men beat Matuskovo 5-0 on Friday afternoon, doubles were not even played. Women were dominating as well, beating Slovan Bratislava 5-0, doubles were once again not even played. Lenka Jurikova smashed Natalia Zorgovska in two sets 6-0, 6-0, Stancik beat Marek Sramek easily 6-0, 6-1. Both contributed for the win with one point.
“We were well prepared to win, it’s a great achievement. We had strong team, including Rebecca Sramkova and Daria Kasatkina, but I would not have thought to be up 5-0 after singles. I had easier matches during extraleague season. I won them, as expected. It was also good preparation for me before upcoming EMPIRE Slovak Open 2016. I play first qualifying round on Saturday,” said Lenka Jurikova.
Jan Stancik was very satisfied following his 6-0, 6-1 win. “Match was great from my side, I know Marek Sramek well. When we were younger, we used to play together. We play very similar game from the baseline. Result does not reflect the quality of both of us. We had a good match,” said Stancik. “This year’s it’s going pretty well, we have strong team. Our opponents are afraid already before the matches, when they see our line-up. We have a great time in the team. We have by far the strongest team now, our doubles are very strong. We had three players from TOP 100 (Martin, Zelenay, Podlipnik).”
Stancik can be already considered as home legend, playing in Extraleague for TC EMPIRE since 2009. “Now I shall move my residence here,” laughs Stancik, coach in LOVE 4 TENNIS Academy.