Jiří Lehečka

Jiří Lehečka (; born 8 November 2001) is a Czech professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, achieved on 24 February 2025, and a doubles ranking of No. 144, achieved on 15 January 2024. He has won two singles titles on the ATP Tour and is currently the No. 3 Czech singles player.

Lehečka had a career-high junior combined ranking of No. 10, achieved on 11 March 2019.

Early life

Jiří Lehečka was born in a hospital in Mladá Boleslav, but he is a native of Kněžmost.

Lehečka is the son of two athletes. His father was a swimmer, and his mother was a track and field star. He has long enjoyed skiing, cycling and swimming and remembers first touching a tennis racquet at three. His grandmother, who competed on a national level, taught his older sister the game, so naturally he wanted to play. When Lehečka was young, he admired Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek.

Career

2021: Two Challenger titles, top 150 debut

Lehečka won two ATP Challenger singles titles, one ATP Challenger doubles title with Vít Kopřiva and two with Zdeněk Kolář.

2022: First ATP Tour win & semifinal, top 60

Lehečka qualified for the main draw of the 2022 Australian Open, defeating Michael Mmoh, Max Purcell, and Dmitry Popko. He lost in the first round to the 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets.

At the ATP tournament in Rotterdam, he reached the second round as a qualifier, with a stunning upset over fifth seed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets in his first ATP Tour main-draw match. He went on to defeat Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti to reach the semifinals on his ATP debut, where he was defeated in three sets by top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. He became the lowest-ranked Rotterdam semifinalist since then-World No. 225 Omar Camporese in 1995. As a result, he moved 42 positions up into the top 100 in the rankings at World No. 95 on 14 February 2022.

At the 2022 Serbia Open he qualified into the main draw but lost in the second round to second seed, World No. 8 and eventual champion Andrey Rublev. At the 2022 BMW Open he qualified into the main draw again defeating Alejandro Tabilo 6–4, 7–6^(7–3) in the final round of qualifying. He lost to wildcard and eventual champion Holger Rune in the first round.

He made his debut at the 2022 French Open and the 2022 Wimbledon Championships where he lost in the first round in both.
At the 2022 Generali Open Kitzbühel he reached the quarterfinals defeating Thiago Monteiro and eight seed João Sousa before losing to third seed Roberto Bautista Agut in a tight three-set match.

He made his debut at the 2022 US Open, completing all Major debuts in one season, where he lost to Cristian Garín.

He qualified for the 2022 Next Generation ATP Finals and reached the semifinals defeating Matteo Arnaldi. He defeated Dominic Stricker in the semifinal but lost to Brandon Nakashima in the final in straight sets.

2023: First ATP Tour final, top-10 victory, top 30

Lehečka began his season as the top-ranked Czech male player at the inaugural 2023 United Cup where he lost to Taylor Fritz 3–6, 4–6 but defeated Alexander Zverev 6–4, 6–2 in Zverev's first match coming back from injury. Lehečka also played mixed doubles with Marie Bouzková.
He reached the Australian Open fourth round defeating 11th seed Cameron Norrie taking his revenge after he was beaten by Norrie at the 2023 Auckland Open the previous week. Next he defeated sixth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime, his first top-10 win, to reach a Major quarterfinal for the first time in his career. As a result, he moved more than 30 positions up into the top 40 at world No. 39 on 30 January 2023.
At the same tournament he also reached the third round in doubles on his debut at the event at this Major with partner Alex Molčan.

At the Qatar Open he recorded his first top-5 win over top seed Andrey Rublev to reach the semifinals, having previously defeated qualifier Damir Džumhur and Emil Ruusuvuori. In Dubai he lost to seventh seed Alexander Zverev.

At the 2023 BNP Paribas Open, he recorded his first Masters win against Arthur Rinderknech.
At Miami, he defeated Federico Coria for his second Masters win, and 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti to reach the third round of a Masters for the first time in his career.
In Monte Carlo he defeated Emil Ruusuvuori and Grigor Dimitrov to move to the round of 16.

At Wimbledon, he reached the fourth round for the first time at this major with wins over Sebastian Ofner, 18th seed Francisco Cerúndolo and 16th seed Tommy Paul in a five set match.

He entered the Croatia Open as the top seed at a tour-level event for the first time, and reached the quarterfinals with a win over Dominic Thiem. He also reached the quarterfinals in doubles with partner Roman Jebavý.

He reached his first ATP Tour final at the 2023 Winston-Salem Open where he lost to Sebastián Báez. As a result, he reached the top 30 in the rankings at world No. 29 on 28 August 2023.

2024: First ATP title and Masters semifinal, top 25

He was selected to play again in the 2024 United Cup as the No. 1 player alongside Marketa Vondrousova.
Lehečka reached his second final at the 2024 Adelaide International defeating third seed Sebastian Korda. He defeated Jack Draper to win his first ATP title. As a result he reached the top 25 in the rankings on 15 January 2024.

Seeded 32nd at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open, Lehečka reached the fourth round for the first time at a Masters 1000 defeating Brandon Nakashima and fifth seed Andrey Rublev, his second top five win and second against Rublev. He reached his first career Masters quarterfinal defeating 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. He lost in the last eight to Jannik Sinner.

Ranked No. 31 at the Madrid Open, he reached his second Masters quarterfinal defeating qualifiers Hamad Medjedovic and Thiago Monteiro, Rafael Nadal in the round of 16, becoming the lowest ranked man to beat the former champion in a clay Masters. Next he defeated third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals to reach his first career Masters 1000 semifinal. He retired in the first set of the semi-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime due to a back injury.

Lehečka was runner-up at the European Open in Antwerp, Belgium, in October, losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in the final.

2025: Second ATP title

At the 2025 Brisbane International he won his second ATP Tour title after the retirement of Reilly Opelka in the final. At the 2025 Australian Open, he reached the fourth round and lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets.

National representation

Lehečka represents the Czech Republic at the Davis Cup, where he has a W/L record of 0–2. He made his debut at the 2019 Davis Cup qualifying round against Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

Performance timeline

Singles

''Current through the 2025 French Open.''

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ATP Next Generation finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

Wins against top 10 players

*Lehečka has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Davis Cup

Participations: (0–2)

* indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehecka, Jiri
2001 births
Living people
Czech male tennis players
Sportspeople from Mladá Boleslav
Tennis players from the Central Bohemian Region
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles
Wimbledon junior champions
21st-century Czech sportsmen