Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain thrashed Jiri Lehecka of Czech Republic 6-2 6-3 in the second round at Queen’s Club in London on Thursday. The match was over within a couple of hours as the Spaniard made short work of his opponent.
How Carlos Alcaraz Easily Beat Jiri Lehecka at Queen’s Club
Alcaraz exhibited his forehand extensively:
Alcaraz was ruthless and relentless with his forehand on the day and offered no respite to Lehecka. The full range of his forehand was on display on Thursday. The 20-year-old Spaniard hit his crosscourt, down-the-line, and inside-in forehands wonderfully well to simply brush his opponent aside.
The Spaniard was off to a great start, breaking the Czech in the second game of the first set and holding his serve to a 3-0 lead. He then kept holding his serve for the next couple of games and then broke Lehecka again in the eighth game to win the set.
Lehecka was surprisingly insipid with his first serve:
Alcaraz literally toyed with Lehecka’s first serve throughout the match. The 21-year-old Czech could win only 35% of the points on his first delivery. He fared considerably better with his second serve, winning 57% of the points, but that was not enough to save him. He was broken a whopping five times in the match.
Alcaraz again made a wonderful start to the second set by breaking Lehecka in the second game. The Czech then broke back in the subsequent game, but the Spaniard got another break of serve to lead 3-1. He then held his serve to extend the lead to 4-1 and maintained the lead for the remainder of the match.
Alcaraz hit a few stupendous return winners in the second set, thereby underlining the ineptness of his opponent’s serve. There was nothing much the Czech could do on the day apart from surrendering meekly. Alcaraz’s form, meanwhile, is an ominous sign for his future opponents in the tournament.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
