New York (AFP) – Jiri Lehecka vowed to stick to his guns as he goes into the biggest match of his career against Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open quarter-finals. The Czech 20th seed moved into the last eight of a Grand Slam for the second time on Sunday with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Adrian Mannarino. The 23-year-old Lehecka is poised to crack the top 20 after matching his quarter-final run at the 2023 Australian Open, but he has bigger ambitions as one of the few players to have beaten Alcaraz this year.
“Against a player like Carlos you need to bring your best,” said Lehecka. “He’s one of the two biggest challenges right now in tennis. It’s not only about playing one particular shot, because he knows how to react. That’s his big weapon. You know, that he knows how to react when someone is playing well.”
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Lehecka defeated Alcaraz in Doha in their only meeting on hard courts, with the Spaniard getting the better of the Czech in another three-set tussle at Queen’s in June. “I will just try to stick to the weapons that I have, to the weapons which worked for me in these last two match-ups,” said Lehecka. “We have never played each other on a Grand Slam stage. So that’s something new for me and for him as well. I think that the match will be great, and I can’t wait for it.”
Lehecka had advanced to the second week of a major just twice in eight attempts following his breakout performance in Melbourne at the start of 2023. But his outlook changed after a stress fracture in his back last year kept him off the courts for more than two months and ruled him out of Roland Garros and Wimbledon. “I’m more mature now, I think, and I think that’s also part of the game. You know, to realise that tennis isn’t everything. That there are also other things in life,” said Lehecka.
His absence from the tour only served to whet his appetite to return and is driving him to make the most of his opportunities as a professional tennis player. “I think that we are kind of privileged that we have the chance to compete, to do what we like, what we love,” said Lehecka. “This point of view changed for me last year when I was injured. Back then I remember that I was coming for a treatment to the hospital, and I saw little kids who were very, very sick, and they were enjoying life, and I was feeling like that it’s the end of the world for me, and I can’t play only because my back hurts. That was the moment when I really, like, something switched.”
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