Jiří Lehečka (born 8 November 2001) is a Czech professional tennis player. Lehečka has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 23 achieved on 15 January 2024. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of No. 144 achieved on 15 January 2024. He is currently the No. 1 Czech player in singles.[1] Lehečka has a career high ITF junior combined ranking of No. 10 achieved on 11 March 2019.
Jiří Lehečka is the son of two athletes. His father was a swimmer, and his mother was a track and field star. He has long enjoyed skiing, cycling and swimming and remembers first touching a tennis racquet at three. His grandmother, who competed on a national level, taught his older sister the game, so naturally he wanted to play. When Lehečka was young, he admired Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek.[3]
At the 2022 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, he reached the second round as a qualifier, with a stunning upset over fifth seed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets in his first ATP Tour main-draw match.[5] He went on to defeat Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti to reach the semifinals on his ATP debut, where he was defeated in three sets by top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. He became the lowest-ranked Rotterdam semifinalist since then-World No. 225 Omar Camporese in 1995. As a result, he moved 42 positions up into the top 100 in the rankings at World No. 95 on 14 February 2022.[6]
At the 2022 Serbia Open he qualified into the main draw but lost in the second round to second seed, World No. 8 and eventual champion Andrey Rublev.
At the 2022 BMW Open he qualified into the main draw again defeating Alejandro Tabilo 6–4, 7–6(7–3) in the final round of qualifying.[7] He lost to wildcard and eventual champion Holger Rune in the first round.
2023: First ATP final, top-10 victory, top 30[edit]
Lehečka began his season as the top-ranked Czech male player at the inaugural 2023 United Cup where he lost to Taylor Fritz 3–6, 4–6 but defeated Alexander Zverev 6–4, 6–2 in Zverev's first ATP match coming back from injury. Lehečka also played mixed doubles with Marie Bouzková.
He reached the 2023 Australian Open fourth round defeating eleventh seed Cameron Norrie taking his revenge after he was beaten by Norrie at the 2023 Auckland Open the previous week.[13][14] Next he defeated sixth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime, his first top-10 win, to reach a Major quarterfinal for the first time in his career.[15] As a result, he moved more than 30 positions up into the top 40 at world No. 39 on 30 January 2023.[16]
At the same tournament he also reached the third round in doubles on his debut at the event at this Major with partner Alex Molčan.
He entered the 2023 Croatia Open Umag as the top seed at a tour-level event for the first time, and reached the quarterfinals with a win over Dominic Thiem.[23] He also reached the quarterfinals in doubles with partner Roman Jebavý.
He reached his first ATP final at the 2023 Winston-Salem Open where he lost to Sebastián Báez.[24] As a result, he reached the top 30 in the rankings at world No. 29 on 28 August 2023.[25]
2024: First ATP title and Masters semifinal, top 25[edit]
Seeded 32nd at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open, he reached the fourth round for the first time at a Masters 1000 defeating Brandon Nakashima and fifth seed Andrey Rublev, his second top 5 win and second against Rublev.[29] He reached his first career Masters quarterfinal defeating 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Ranked No. 31 at the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open, he reached his second Masters quarterfinal defeating qualifiers Hamad Medjedovic and Thiago Monteiro, Rafael Nadal in the round of 16, becoming the lowest ranked man to beat the former champion in a clay Masters.[30] Next he defeated third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals to reach his first career Masters 1000 semifinal.[31]
^ abDuring the season, he did not play in the main-draw of any ATP Tour-level tournaments. However, he played at the Davis Cup, which is not counted as a played tournament but as matches counted.