Madrid (Spain) – For the second time in his professional career, Jiri Lehecka will compete in the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000. After having a great campaign on the hard court of Indian Wells, the 22-year-old Czech, currently 31st in the ranking, repeated the feat on the clay of Madrid, by eliminating five-time champion Rafael Nadal this Tuesday with splits of 7/5 and 6/4 in 2h01 of play.
Also tormenting Thiago Monteiro in the third round in Madrid, Lehecka faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, 4th in the rankings, in the quarterfinals. Their only previous duel was won by Medvedev, on the grass at Wimbledon last year.
By beating Nadal on clay, Lehecka also became the lowest-ranked player to beat the Spaniard on his favorite surface in a Masters 1000 or Grand Slam tournament. Until then, the record belonged to Argentine Gaston Gaudio, who was ranked 29th at the Hamburg Masters in 2003. The Czech is also trying to get back to the best ranking of his career, 23rd place.
Nadal achieved three victories in the tournament
For Nadal, the positive aspect of the campaign in Madrid are the three victories he achieved in the tournament, one of them over Australian Alex de Minaur, number 11 in the world. The Spaniard also got past 16-year-old American guest Darwin Blanch and won a 3-hour battle against Argentine Pedro Cachin in the third round.
At 37 years old and trying to return to the circuit after suffering a hip injury that compromised his last two seasons, the Spaniard has not won three in a row since 2022. Although he currently occupies only 512th place in the ATP, Nadal requested the protected ranking to enter the key at Roland Garros, but he has already said that he will only play if he feels he has what it takes to be competitive. After the match, the Spaniard received tributes on the court, remembering memorable moments from his five titles.
Lehecka faced just one break point
The first set of the match had just one break, won by Lehecka in the penultimate game of the partial. Shortly before, the Czech saved the only break-point he faced in the entire match, with a parallel backhand winner to maintain serve and make it 4/4. He had also twice escaped from 0-30. Nadal, in turn, did not hide his frustration at the wasted opportunities and lost the last eight points of the set. Much more aggressive on the court, the Czech was 18 to 5 in winners and made 17 errors against 8.
Lehecka was impeccable in service games during the second set. In addition to efficiently executing the serve and first ball game, the Czech was also very comfortable when going up to the net. It didn’t take long for him to get an early break and win 2/0. And Nadal had to fight hard to save three break-points in the third game of the partial. The crowd at Caixa Mágica became inflamed, shouting “Sí, se puede” and trying to push the Spanish idol, but Lehecka remained cool and faithful to his tactics to continue holding serve until the match ended in straight sets.
