21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka continues to play his best tennis on the world’s biggest stages. Lehecka took down No. 16 seed Tommy Paul on Saturday 6-2 7-6 6-7 6-7 6-2 to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in his young career. He is one of 11 men to reach the second week of at least two Slams this season, joining Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Karen Khachanov, Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, and Yoshihito Nishioka.
Taking his current Wimbledon run into account, Lehecka is up to a career-high ranking of world No. 32 and will likely be seeded at the US Open in September. The young Czech has quickly worked his way up the ATP rankings due to his aggressive and consistent baseline play off both wings.
Jiri Lehecka’s rise up the rankings
When professional tennis resumed post-COVID in August 2020, the then-18-year-old Lehecka was ranked No. 617 in the world. He spent the 2021 season playing mainly at the Challenger level, capturing his first two titles that summer.
At the start of 2022, Lehecka was ranked No. 141 in the world. In February, he pushed his way through qualifying and into the semifinals in Rotterdam. He took down Denis Shapovalov, Botic van de Zandschulp, and Lorenzo Musetti to become the youngest semifinalist at the event since 1995. This improbable result shot Lehecka in the Top 100 and allowed him to auto-qualify for more Tour-level events. He played 32 of his 83 matches at the tour level in 2022 and finished the season as the runner-up at the ATP NextGen Finals.
It wasn’t until earlier this season that the young Czech truly put the tennis world on notice. Lehecka took down Borna Coric, Christopher Eubanks, Cameron Norrie, and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Australian Open before being ousted by Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals. It was the first time Lehecka had won a Grand Slam match. His ranking, and confidence, skyrocketed as the 21-year-old was now virtually a lock to be an auto-entrant at any tournament in the world.
Lehecka followed up the run in Melbourne with a trip to the semifinals in Doha. He reached the quarters in Banja Luka in April and has notched nine wins over Top 25 players this season.
Looking at the young Czech’s game, he supplements an athletic frame with powerful groundstrokes off both wings. He strikes a fearless two-handed backhand with the pace to puncture any opponent. He has the body type and loose arm to be a plus-level server and has shown off that component of his game in London. Through three rounds at the All-England Club, the 21-year-old Czech has dropped just two sets (both in tiebreaks). He has been broken just once in 53 service games, an incredible mark for a player his age.
What will it take to beat Medvedev?
As mentioned earlier, Lehecka is just one of 11 players to reach the fourth round of two Slams this season. He shifts his focus to reaching another Slam quarterfinal when he takes on No. 3 Daniil Medvedev on Monday. This will be the first meeting between the two.
Medvedev has looked sharp this week, dropping just one set en route to his first appearance in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Medvedev provides an interesting challenge for the aggressive-minded Lehecka. The Russian will gladly stand six feet behind the baseline and hit back every ball the Czech fires at him. Lehecka must not force the action. He should look to find comfortability in the longer rallies rather than try and run the No. 3 seed from line to line. Lehecka will need another monster day from the service line to pull off this upset. Nothing comes easy against the Russian, and Jiri Lehecka must strap in for a battle on Monday.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
