Great! Jiri Lehecka will be the first Czech to play at the Next Gen ATP Finals

Jiří Lehečka has had a very successful season. The 20-year-old tennis player from the Czech Republic is already assured of playing at the Next Gen ATP Finals, where the top eight players under 21 from the previous calendar year always qualify.

For Jiri Lehecka, 2022 is a breakthrough year. For the first time ever, he broke into the top 100 tennis players in the world, and he also became the Czech number one. He is currently ranked 78th on the ATP rankings.

Among his greatest achievements we can include the scalps of Denis Shapovalov, Botice Van De Zandschulp, Lorenzo Musetti and Grigor Dimitrov. At the tournament in Rotterdam, he played a very even battle with Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals, but after 6::4, 4::6 and 2::6 sets, he could not enjoy the victory.

The young Boleslav native won one tournament this year, when he was unbeaten in Liberec. In the final he defeated the Spanish tennis player Alvarez Varona after 6:4 and 6:4 sets. This only confirmed that he is most successful on clay.

Since January, Lehecka has earned 699 points, which is currently enough to be seventh in the rankings for the Next Gen ATP Finals. Before the start of the event in Paris, he has secured his participation in the final tournament, which will be held from 8-13 November. He will be the first Czech representative to play there.

He will be joined in Milan by Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Jack Draper and Brandon Nakashima. It will certainly not be easy to succeed in such strong company.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and current World No. 12 Jannik SInner could also have taken part in this event, but they have excused themselves. That leaves three spots still open, one of which should be taken by the currently playing great Dominic Stricker.

Source: ATP