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.”
As of late, Lehecka is controlling the narrative making Masters magic.
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Putting 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 profitable streak towards opponents ranked exterior the Prime 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 in the present day.
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 return right here, for instance, final 12 months it was, like, a dream, you understand, it was my first time enjoying Indian Wells, first time seeing these wonderful levels, you understand, wonderful followers,” Lehecka informed the media in Indian Wells. “So I used to be a bit like, it was, for me, like a small fairy story, I might say, being right here. I used to be very glad that I made it to my first Masters final 12 months.
“However we felt ultimately of final season that the outcomes on these large tournaments weren’t what we needed, and that I had some possibilities 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’s 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 pictures ought to I make or what I mustn’t do,” Lehecka mentioned. “And that is one of many the reason why having Tomas right here with me is superb, as a result of he has far 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 facet and to have some assist even from these type of guys like him who’ve been via this all many instances, 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 previous buddy by way of textual content to reward Lehecka’s potential.
“He is aware of my coach, Michal Navratil, very effectively. They’ve been collectively, you understand, 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 mates on tour for a while. In fact, their paths has modified.
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“However that was one of many the reason why we obtained 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 effectively, that he favored the way in which how I performed, after which they simply stayed in contact.
“He was in Dubai final 12 months the place we met, and simply we spoke lots. 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 observe from this totally different place, and he favored that concept. So we agreed.”
The person nicknamed Berdman, recognized for a few of the strongest legs on Tour throughout his enjoying 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 pictures, and to maneuver up into the courtroom to acknowledge and assault mid-court balls.
“All the ideas he gave me have been, like, linked with working extra with my legs, working extra ahead and backwards, you understand, throughout 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 organize ourselves. We had a while to observe extra, to spend extra time on the courtroom.”
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.
Photograph credit score: Clive Brunskill/Getty