Qualifying for the Australian Open: success of Machac and Lehecka, how did the other Czechs fare?

Tomas Machac and Jiri Lehecka have successfully passed the qualification and will play in the main part of the Australian Open. It will be the second Grand Slam for the former, while for Jiri Lehecka it will be his debut. How did the other Czechs fare in qualifying?

The 21-year-old Czech did very well to qualify for the main part of the tournament. However, his biggest problems came in the opening part of the qualification, when he had to turn around an unfavourable match, but he defeated Carabelli 2:1 in sets.

In the remaining matches, however, he had no more difficulties and won both duels without losing a single set.

Machac will play at a Grand Slam for the second time, his tournament high is the second round of the Australian Open 2021. The Czech hope has been performing very well in the beginning of the season. He has already won 8 matches this year, 5 of them at the Challenger in Tralalgon, Australia, where he won his first title of the season.

For Lehecka, however, this is his first time in the tournament. The closest he has ever come was at last year’s US Open, where he crashed out in the third round of qualifying.

But this time it worked out. He won the first two matches without losing a set, although they were not easy. He sweated the most in the battle to qualify for the main part of the tournament, but he managed to turn the match against Purcell around.

“I’m playing really well now, it was an excellent match today. I gave a 100% performance, there was hardly any mistakes. I’m staying focused and looking forward to the next challenges,” Machac said in an interview with Tennis World.

Czech men’s tennis will have three representatives in the Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Rolland Garros 2018.

There were 3 other Czech representatives in the qualification, but their qualification journey ended in failure. Malečková dropped out in the first round, Kopřiva and Kolář finished after the second match.

Both Machac and Lehecka will have a very difficult first round. The former will play against Juan Manuel Cerúndol of Argentina. However, Macháč’s chances of advancing are solid, as his opponent prefers clay.

Lehecek, on the other hand, is not too lucky, he will play the seeded Grigor Dimitrov. Unfortunately, the Czech tennis player will be the clear outsider of the match and can only surprise.

Sources: Tennis World, Livesport, Twitter