Jiri Lehecka stuns Daniil Medvedev in Cincinnati | ATP Tour

Match Report

Lehecka stuns Medvedev in Cincinnati

Czech will face Tiafoe, who ousted Musetti

August 15, 2024

Jiri Lehecka earned a surprising upset victory towards former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday night within the second spherical of the Cincinnati Open.

Medvedev, the 2019 champion, arrived in Ohio hungry for matches and an uptick in kind after an opening-round exit in Montreal. However as a substitute Lehecka, who previous to Cincinnati had not performed since Madrid because of a again damage, emerged victorious 7-6(2), 6-4.

“It is superb to be again, to be trustworthy,” Lehecka mentioned in his on-court interview. “It was a very long time since I used to be enjoying on an enormous stage, so I loved each second of it immediately. To get a win once more such an excellent participant, gifted participant as Daniil absolutely is, is only a bonus for me.”

🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨@jirilehecka placed on a present for the Cincy crowd with a 7-6(2) 6-4 victory over Medvedev.@CincyTennis | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/UcsNlau1yt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 15, 2024

The runner-up on the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF went greater than two months with out touching a tennis racquet. On 7 July, he returned to courtroom. And simply greater than a month later, he has earned the most effective wins of his profession.

Medvedev, who fell to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Montreal, landed simply 44 per cent of his first serves in response to Infosys ATP Stats and he hit seven double faults, together with a essential one when going through break level at 3-3 within the second set. When he missed his second serve, the group fell silent.

Lehecka performed fearless tennis, hitting 17 forehand winners to benefit from his alternatives. This yr’s Adelaide champion wrote a becoming message on the digicam following the match: “I’m again!”

Lehecka, who’s now 5-14 towards High 10 opponents, will subsequent play house favorite Frances Tiafoe. The American ousted in-form Italian 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-2.

“Served rather well immediately. I used to be the aggressor, I used to be enjoying fairly deep, nice depth,” Tiafoe mentioned in his on-court interview. “However the factor is I simply tried to get on him early. He’s been enjoying on a bunch of various surfaces, he’s performed plenty of tennis currently. I do know clearly he’s making an attempt to get to his greatest on the US Open, however I believed I needed to come out actually scorching and play as quick as I can. I got here ahead rather a lot immediately and I feel actually disrupted him.”

Tiafoe confronted a tricky problem towards the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, and he rose to the event. The World No. 27 didn’t face a break level to advance after 68 minutes.

“I do know he simply got here from the Olympics, so these are the form of matchups you need,” Tiafoe mentioned. “I’ve been on the exhausting courts since Atlanta, solely been enjoying higher every week. I believed that was the largest distinction immediately.”