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.

Erik Csarnakovics, head coach of the LOVE 4 TENNIS Academy in Bratislava, revealed more about new relationship between the two tennis clubs in the video of the Slovak TV DIGI Sport.
“There are twenty clay courts, two hard courts and nine courts in the hall.  This is a competition for any top club in Europe. The cooperation between TC EMPIRE TRNAVA and LOVE 4 TENNIS has been created because we are more aware that we share the same goals. The main goal is that we want to coach the players who are going to be competitive in the world and in Europe. There is an exchange between the clubs regarding players and there is the cooperation with players who have the base in Trnava and need to train in Bratislava and vice versa.”
The important thing is to be stronger. “We are looking for new partners in Slovakia and Czech Republic, perhaps also in neighboring countries. We have understood that, on the basis of this cooperation, we are stronger together and we are not trying to compete with anyone, because each player from our clubs actually competes with the world,” said in the end Csarnakovics.
Miloslav Grolmus, head coach of the club TC EMPIRE TRNAVA, is a former professional player. He has told more about his duties in the club.
“I have started my work in this club one year ago. Before that, I had been working as a coach at the highest level and before that, I was a professional player. This was a new challenge for me. One of my main duties was and is to create more professional team here,” said Grolmus. “We’ve got all the prerequisites to attract the best players in Slovakia and, of course, also from abroad, and gradually bring them up,” he added.
The cooperation with the club  was started by Kamil Capkovic, former Davis Cup player of Slovakia, just one month ago, too. „I can say that I am still looking around here. I am new here so I have a new view on things. I can change routine according to what I have seen in Europe and in the world – what are the new trends. The conditions are fantastic here, there will be a new tennis hall with additional infrastructure. It’s going to be unprecedented in Slovakia,” said Capkovic.