Normally the star of the tournament is the person who wins the title, but Jiri Vesely had some of the limelight stolen away by his pet dog.
Playing in the final of the Czech Open, an ATP Challenger tournament, second seeded Vesely outlasted Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, on Saturday. The triumph makes Vesely the second player in history to win the tournament on three separate occasions. The first was Radek Stepanek in 2003, 2004 and 2013.
“My performance was not great today; however, what is much more important is that I managed to bring it to a victorious end.“ The world No.57 admitted after the match.
Moments after securing the 2017 trophy, Vesely brought onto the court his pet dog Leo. Celebrating the win with his tiny dog, the Czech impressed the crowd with a series of tricks. These include giving Leo a high-five before he jumped onto Vesely’s back.
Jiří Veselý celebrating his third Prostějov Challenger title with his awesome dog.
It is not the first time Leo has been seen at the court alongside Vesely. In fact he has become a prominent feature on his Instagram account alongside his girlfriend. Some of the tournaments Leo has accompanied Vesely at include Budapest and Croatia.
Vesely’s title in Prostejov is his first of any kind since he won the tournament in 2015. It has improved his win-loss record to 22-15 this season.
The 23-year-old is now projected to rise to 42nd in the world, seven places below his career best. His next tournament is scheduled to be the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club in a week’s time.
