Jiri Lehecka satisfied, but sees ‘big, big room for improvement’ | ATP Tour

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Lehecka happy, however sees ‘large, large room for enchancment’

Czech is ready for brand spanking new profession excessive following first ATP Masters 1000 last

March 30, 2026

Jiri Lehecka has rather a lot to be pleased with following his shock run to the ultimate of the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Czech, who fell quick to Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s title match, was competing in his maiden ATP Masters 1000 last, an expertise that underlined each his progress and his starvation for extra.

“I feel that these matches like immediately towards these guys are exhibiting me that there’s nonetheless large, large, large room for enchancment,” Lehecka mentioned in his post-tournament press convention. “I performed, for my part, an excellent event right here. I used to be very happy with my sport.

“However immediately I once more noticed that there’s nonetheless someplace to go, and that I’ll actually need to maintain bettering increasingly more if I would like to have the ability to beat these guys within the last phases of those large occasions like Masters and Grand Slams.”

Set for a brand new career-high No. 14 in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings, Lehecka produced a commanding serving efficiency in Miami, going unbroken till the ultimate. He saved 9 break factors throughout three matches and didn’t face a single break level in his two different matches en path to the championship match. Sinner wasted no time, ending Lehecka’s streak within the Czech’s second service sport.

Nonetheless, the 24-year-old Lehecka is happy together with his standout serving efficiency in south Florida.

“The way in which I used to be in a position to hold my key weapons working by way of all these matches was one thing that I used to be working in the direction of within the final couple of weeks, months,” mentioned Lehecka. “After all I’d love to carry my serve the entire 12 months, however that is not attainable. Jannik performed excellent return video games, and I felt throughout the entire match that he is placing increasingly more stress on me.”

Lehecka fell to 0-4 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head sequence with Sinner, however Sunday’s conflict was extra of a contest than their third-round assembly at Roland Garros final 12 months, when the Italian cruised to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 victory. That three-set match in Paris took one hour and 34 minutes, only one minute greater than Sinner’s two-set win at Onerous Rock Stadium.

“I confirmed immediately a greater efficiency than in Paris, so I used to be specializing in not repeating the identical mistake as again then,” Lehecka mentioned. “Which meant utilizing my first function a weapon and going just a little bit extra to the web.

“Eventually 12 months’s Roland Garros, I felt that these circumstances had been extraordinarily tough for my sport model. We performed underneath the roof, Courtroom Suzanne-Lenglen, tremendous moist circumstances, heavy balls. I felt that he was the one who principally had all of the weapons at that second. I couldn’t assist myself with the serve. Each time I performed a superb shot again then, he simply had loads of time to counter it one way or the other.”

Lehecka arrived in Miami with a modest 6-5 season file, based on the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and now heads into the European clay-court swing buoyed by his newest efficiency.

“I made a last right here, so I feel that even the work on Monte-Carlo clay will likely be simpler for me with that confidence that I convey with myself,” mentioned Lehecka. “And on the similar time, there isn’t any higher place to start out the 12 months on clay than Monte-Carlo. That place is wonderful and I wish to be there on a regular basis once I can.”