Barbora Krejcikova followed up her Athens Open title win with a first-round victory over compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova at the Prague Open.

Two home favourites were drawn together in the Czech capital, and it was second seed Krejcikova who came through with a 6-2 6-4 success inside one hour and 19 minutes.

The former Wimbledon champion only gave up two points on her own serve throughout the opening set, also converting two of the four break points she created as Fruhvirtova wilted under her relentless pressure. 

The second set was a different story, though, as neither player managed to win more than 47% of points on their own serve, Fruhvirtova winning a mere 35%.

Six straight games went against the serve, but after Krejcikova held to love in game eight, she got one last break to tee up a round-of-16 meeting with another Czech player, Lucie Havlickova.

The top five seeds in Prague are all from Czechia, and two more of those were also victorious on Tuesday.

Third seed Sara Bejlek downed Anna Blinkova 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 6-1 in just under three hours, while fifth seed Tereza Valentova will meet Maya Joint next after beating Priscilla Hon 6-3 6-1.

Imperious Krejcikova victorious again

Krejcikova may have gone out in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, losing in three sets to compatriot Karolína Muchova, but her recent form has been strong.

She has now won 12 of her last 14 matches, with that sequence including runs to two finals at 's-Hertogenbosch (retired due to illness before facing Robin Montgomery) and Athens (beat Maria Sakkari).

The former world number two won the Prague title back in 2021, at the end of a four-tournament stretch that saw her win 20 of 21 matches and claim three titles (Strasbourg, Roland-Garros and Prague) – given her recent purple patch, she will be optimistic of a repeat.