Lehecka managed to fight the Austrian and the weather and moves on at Wimbledon!

Czech men’s tennis had three representatives at the start of Wimbledon in singles. However, the lot was quite strict with our players and only Jiri Lehecka was not facing a seeded opponent at the start of the grass grand slam. How did the match of the highest ranked Czech player in the first round of the prestigious tennis event go? What other opponents is he looking for?

Tuesday’s action at Wimbledon was affected by rain. Only Tomáš Macháč managed to play his match under the cloudy roof of Court 1, where he was unable to beat the tournament’s No. 12 Briton Norrie. The native of Beroun won the second set, in the fourth he still had a break lead after a promising start, but last year’s semi-finalist eventually turned the tide.

Wednesday promised more favourable weather, but the Wimbledon participants did not have an easy time with the weather. The very start of the first matches on Wednesday was postponed. This also applied to the second of the Czech players, Jiri Lehecka.

Lehecka’s match

The twenty-one year old Czech tennis player enjoyed his first victory on grass this year and played solid tournaments in Stuttgart and Queen’s Club. In both, he dropped out in the second round, but in matches against the best, American Tiafoe and Spaniard Alcaraz.

His opening opponent at Wimbledon was the Austrian Ofner. The latter had reached the third round at the London Grand Slam six years ago, but has never qualified since. But he showed his improving form at this year’s French Open, where he reached the eighth round.

Last year, Lehecka won the duel between today’s opponents at the Salzburg Challenger. He entered the match as a slight favourite. The rain delayed the start of the match by almost two hours. His opening games were quite fast.

Both players held their serves without any major problems. At 4:4, the rain took over. After returning to the court, the tennis players had only a few tens of minutes until the next rain shower, but it was enough for the first break of the match. It came in Lehecka’s favour and a few moments later the Czech tennis player won the whole first set.

All the best for the third time?

The second rain break was noticeably shorter than the previous one and the players soon returned to the court. For the third time today and not only they hoped for the last time. In the second set, Lehecka occasionally got into awkward situations on his serve, but unlike the Austrian, he was able to resolve them. Soon after the break, he regained his opponent’s serve and won the second set 6:4, just like the first.

The beginning of the third set brought the longest game of the match so far. It was a great ending for Lehecka. He took advantage of the sixth break point and confirmed the break with a clean game. The match was heading towards a winning end for the Czech tennis player and nothing changed on this course. After 6:4, 6:4, 6:3 sets, Lehecka advanced to the second round of Wimbledon.

Who awaits Lehecka next?

The next opponent will be the winner of the Cerundolo-Borges duel. Lehecka may face a player from the world’s elite ten in his fourth match at the tournament, against the Russian Medvedev. Which is actually a nice change from past tennis events.

Source: Wimbledon, ATP