By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, March 12, 202
Jiri Lehecka’s first journey to Tennis Paradise was so profound, he felt himself dwelling “a small fairy story.”
Today, Lehecka is controlling the narrative making Masters magic.
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Placing 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 as we speak.
Lehecka is the primary Czech to achieve a Masters 1000 quarterfinal since Tomas Berdych on the 2017 Miami Open and first Czech to achieve 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 recognize, it was my first time enjoying Indian Wells, first time seeing these superb levels, you recognize, superb 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 comfortable 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 wished, 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 photographs ought to I make or what I mustn’t do,” Lehecka stated. “And that is one of many explanation why having Tomas right here with me is excellent, as a result of he has far more expertise than I’ve, and together 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 sort 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 together with his outdated pal through textual content to reward Lehecka’s potential.
“He is aware of my coach, Michal Navratil, very effectively. They’ve been collectively, you recognize, they know one another since they have been children, they have been touring collectively in early stage of his profession,” Lehecka stated. “They have been greatest associates on tour for a while. After all, their paths has modified.
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“However that was one of many explanation 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 stated, like, similar to that I performed effectively, that he appreciated the best way 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 lots. I simply requested him if he want to journey with me for a number of tournaments to assist me and to get again on the monitor from this completely different place, and he appreciated 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 recreation. Berdych has inspired Lehecka to make use of his leg energy, each driving via his photographs, and to maneuver up into the courtroom to acknowledge and assault mid-court balls.
“All the guidelines he gave me have been, like, related with working extra with my legs, working extra ahead and backwards, you recognize, throughout the factors,” Lehecka stated. “So we labored on this, and we spoke about these items largely to start with of the week, to start with of the event after we had a while to arrange 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 dwell 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