By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, March 12, 202
Jiri Lehecka’s first journey to Tennis Paradise was so profound, he felt himself residing “a small fairy story.”
Lately, Lehecka is controlling the narrative making Masters magic.
Extra: Grigor Dimitrov on Pure Magnificence
Hanging clear, commanding strikes, Lehecka dismissed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4 charging into his first profession Masters 1000 quarterfinal in Indian Wells.
World No. 32 Lehecka beat Tsitsipas for the primary time in three conferences, snapping the Greek’s 13-match successful streak towards opponents ranked exterior the High 20.
What a distinction a 12 months makes.
Final 12 months, Lehecka was thrilled simply to be a part of the draw.
This 12 months, Lehecka has been a human wrecking ball knocking out No. 5 Andrey Rublev, 6-4, 6-4, within the third spherical earlier than topping Tsitsipas right this moment.
Lehecka is the primary Czech to succeed in a Masters 1000 quarterfinal since Tomas Berdych on the 2017 Miami Open and first Czech to succeed in the final eight within the desert since Berdych in 2015.
“For me to come back right here, for instance, final 12 months it was, like, a dream, you already know, it was my first time taking part in Indian Wells, first time seeing these superb phases, you already know, superb followers,” Lehecka advised the media in Indian Wells. “So I used to be a bit like, it was, for me, like a small fairy story, I’d say, being right here. I used to be very completely happy that I made it to my first Masters final 12 months.
“However we felt ultimately of final season that the outcomes on these huge tournaments weren’t what we needed, and that I had some probabilities to go additional within the tournaments, to play higher, and to beat some gamers, however I didn’t accomplish that.”
Enter Berdman.
Tomas Berdych joined Lehecka’s coach, Michal Navratil, in Indian Wells this month and his expertise has helped the Adelaide champion navigate a troublesome draw.
“There may be nonetheless many, there are nonetheless many moments the place I am, like, yeah, what is that this, how do I really feel, what ought to I do, how ought to I react, what sort of photographs ought to I make or what I shouldn’t do,” Lehecka mentioned. “And that is one of many the reason why having Tomas right here with me is excellent, as a result of he has way more expertise than I’ve, and along with his willingness to share it, it is simply nice for me to have him right here by my aspect and to have some assist even from these form of guys like him who’ve been via this all many occasions, and who is aware of the way it works.”
Although Berdych retired from the Tour by the point Lehecka debuted in 2021, he grew up with coach Navratil and reconnected along with his outdated buddy by way of textual content to reward Lehecka’s potential.
“He is aware of my coach, Michal Navratil, very properly. They’ve been collectively, you already know, they know one another since they have been youngsters, they have been touring collectively in early stage of his profession,” Lehecka mentioned. “They have been greatest associates on tour for a while. In fact, their paths has modified.:”However that was one of many the reason why we bought in contact. After my good run on the Australian Open final 12 months once I was ithe quarterfinals, Tomas texted to Michal, and mentioned, like, identical to that I performed properly, that he preferred the way in which how I performed, after which they only stayed in contact.
“He was in Dubai final 12 months the place we met, and simply we spoke rather a lot. I simply requested him if he want to journey with me for a couple of tournaments to assist me and to get again on the monitor from this totally different place, and he preferred that concept. So we agreed.”
The person nicknamed Berdman, identified for a few of the strongest legs on Tour throughout his taking part in days, has helped Lehecka take flight by emphasizing the bottom sport. Berdych has inspired Lehecka to make use of his leg power, each driving via his photographs, and to maneuver up into the court docket to acknowledge and assault mid-court balls.
“All the information he gave me have been, like, related with working extra with my legs, working extra ahead and backwards, you already know, in the course of the factors,” Lehecka mentioned. “So we labored on this, and we spoke about these items principally to start with of the week, to start with of the event once we had a while to arrange ourselves. We had a while to follow extra, to spend extra time on the court docket.”
This career-best Masters run has propelled Lehecka to No. 27 within the stay rankings forward of his quarterfinal showdown towards both Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner or US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton.
Picture credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty
