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Let’s travel back to a time when Czechoslovakia was still gripped by the Iron Curtain. It was already starting to rust, but some things were still hard to imagine. However, tennis was one of the few areas where you could get a taste of the fresh breeze from the Western world. The communist regime was slowly crumbling, and in three years, the Velvet Revolution would arrive.
And the Czech tennis school was celebrating success. In the 1980s, fans were thrilled by the Davis Cup triumph of the men’s team, Ivan Lendl was following in the footsteps of Jan Kodes with Grand Slam glory, and Hana Mandlikova was one of the world’s top players.
In 1985, the nation also won the biggest team competition in women's tennis, then known as the Federation Cup, in Japan, and were to defend their title on home turf a year later.
The format at the time was very similar to football's World Cup, with 42 teams of four arriving in Prague to compete for the trophy, and virtually every top female tennis player in the world was there. The crowd admired the divine Argentine Gabriela Sabatini, Bulgaria were led by the performances of the Maleeva sisters, and the main star of the German team was world number three Steffi Graf.
Graf ruled out by freak accident
The story of the then 17-year-old rising superstar is definitely worth mentioning. Graf had to skip Wimbledon due to a mysterious illness, but she wanted to make up for it in Prague and win her country’s first team trophy. However, after leading her team through two knockout rounds, she could only watch the quarter-finals from the bench.
"Steffi Graf, the best West German tennis player, broke her toe on Thursday when a sun umbrella fell on her foot. She was getting her rackets ready for practice when, in strong winds, the umbrella structure tipped over and the table landed on her foot," reported the Los Angeles Times correspondent from the scene. "X-rays revealed a broken toe on her right foot. It’s unclear when she’ll be able to play again."
The Germans, with substitute Bettina Bunge, managed to edge out the Bulgarians, but in the semi-finals, they couldn’t get past the USA.
And so, partly due to Graf’s bizarre injury, Stvanice got a final that was both a dream and unwanted: Czechoslovakia vs USA.
Navratilova's return
For a rematch of the previous year’s final in Japan, the American team brought the best they had. The main star was world number one Martina Navratilova, supported by number two Chris Evert, with world number five Pam Shriver ready as backup. And, of course, it was an emotionally charged match-up.
Navratilova was returning to her homeland after 11 years in exile, and during those years, the communist regime had tried to erase her name from memory. The media avoided reporting on Grand Slams, and the arrival of the biggest star in tennis was supposed to be kept secret.
"I know that our dad, as the head of the association, went to welcome her at the airport. It was raining then, and he waited for her with an umbrella by the plane. Because of everything that was happening here, she had to use a special entrance. I know Martina remembered that someone was always watching her," recalled Helena Sukova, one of the mainstays of the national team, years later.
This unique match left the Czechoslovak girls with a bittersweet memory. "We tried to focus on our game, but in that final, it was really unpleasant for us. People were cheering for the Americans. Of course, not because they didn’t wish us well, but because of Martina," Sukova described.
After the singles matches, the result was already decided - the home team had lost both. But the tournament rules had to be fulfilled, so the doubles had to be played as a dead rubber: "When I lost to Chris Evert and Hanka lost to Martina, we didn’t want to play the doubles. We said: ‘They’re not cheering for us anyway, we’re not going.’ But they talked us into it," the Czech player recalled.
Now, with the benefit of hindsight, Sukova sees the match differently: "Looking back at it today, it was simply a tennis celebration."
An Olympic legacy
Behind the scenes of the Stvanice tournament, another remarkable issue was being discussed besides the sporting battles. The then-president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, visited Prague, and intense negotiations took place by the Vltava about bringing tennis back to the Olympic Games. Tennis had already been part of the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but only as a demonstration sport.
According to Czech media, Wimbledon champion Jan Kodes also helped the talks with his presence, and a year later, in Baden-Baden in Germany, it was finally decided that tennis would return to the official Olympic program for the first time in 64 years.
Czechoslovakia benefited from the inclusion of the previously unwanted 'professional' sport, with a medal haul in Seoul 1988 secured by gold medalist Miloslav Mecir, a silver-winning doubles pair of Sukova and Novotna, and a bronze medal claimed by the men’s pair of Mecir and Srejber.
Unlike the hockey stadium, the Stvanice tennis arena survived. It did fall into neglect for a while, its centre court deteriorated, and for 16 long years, no official tennis match was played there. But today, the shrine of Czech tennis is coming back to life.
Thanks to the tournament entrusted to Prague by the WTA, which decided to move its location from Stromovka to the island, the grand arena’s seats will once again be filled to the top tiers, 40 years after that memorable event.
On Sunday, six thousand spectators will enjoy a beautiful view across the Vltava to Prague Castle, welcome the heroines of the above-mentioned Fed Cup final, and applaud the finalists of the Livesport Prague Open.