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After starting the year with some top-class displays on hard courts, has the time come for Jiri Lehecka to make a breakthrough on the clay?

The #NextGenATP Czech may have done things the hard way in his 7-6(6), 6-4 first-round victory against Thiago Monteiro at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel on Monday, but a dominant serving performance ultimately helped the 20-year-old seal a debut win at the ATP 250 event in Austria.

Lehecka let slip a 3-0 lead in the first set and later had to fend off a Monteiro set point at 5/6 in a close-fought first-set tie-break, but he retained his composure to complete a one-hour, 46-minute win, having fired 10 aces and won 82 per cent (31/38) of points behind his first delivery.

The 20-year-old charged to a maiden tour-level semi-final in February as a qualifier at the indoor hard-court ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, where he upset Denis Shapovalov, Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti. Lehecka, who currently sits sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Milan, will hope for a similarly deep run in Austria to boost his chances of qualifying for November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.

Lehecka’s second-round assignment is a first ATP Head2Head meeting with Joao Sousa, after the eighth seed brushed past Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva, 6-1, 7-5. Sousa broke Kopriva’s serve five times in a 90-minute victory, his first tour-level win since Roland Garros in late May. Sousa has enjoyed success in Kitzbühel before, reaching the final in 2017 before falling to Philipp Kohlschreiber.

#NextGenATP star opens US Open main draw debut against Cristian Garin
#NextGenATP star Jiri Lehecka has caught himself by surprise this season. In February, the 20-year-old made the Rotterdam semi-finals as a qualifier and broke into the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, a mark that Lehecka couldn’t quite believe.

“The guy who did the post-match interview came to me and said, ‘Congrats! With this win, you achieved the Top 100!’ and I was like, ‘Woah, when? Unbelievable!’” Lehecka recalled.

The Czech No. 1 has continued to find success in 2022. Now an entrenched member of the ATP Tour and sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan, Lehecka still cites his roots on the ATP Challenger Tour as the foundation of his success, and even returned - with success - to the Challengers earlier this month.

Lehecka collected his third Challenger title three-weeks ago, when he defeated Spaniard Nicolas Alvarez Varona 6-4, 6-4 to win the Liberec Challenger in front of a home crowd.

“The fans there were just unbelievable,” Lehecka said. “The way they supported me the whole tournament, especially in the semi-final and final was unbelievable. I’m so glad I got this experience this year to play in front of my home crowd.”

The former Wimbledon boys’ doubles champion (w/ Forejtek) broke through the Challenger Tour scene in 2021, when he made back-to-back finals in Tampere and Poznan, triumphing in Tampere, which was his first Challenger final.

Having started this season as the World No. 141 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Lehecka has climbed within the Top 60 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Challenger Tour has played an essential role for the youngster’s development.

“The Challenger Tour is a very important part of everyone’s journey. I won my first Challenger last year in Finland, that was one of the best moments of my life so far.”

Lehecka earned the biggest win of his career in February, when he defeated Denis Shapovalov to capture his first ATP Tour main draw win in Rotterdam. He then took down Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti en route to reaching the semi-finals at the ATP 500 event (l. Tsitsipas).

In January, the Czech qualified for his first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open before falling short to Grigor Dimitrov in the first round. As a direct entrant into Roland Garros and Wimbledon this summer, Lehecka was unable to get past the first round, including a tough five-set loss to Filip Krajinovic at the All England Club.

Lehecka will look to strengthen his claim on a spot at the eight-player Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals by claiming his maiden Grand Slam victory at the US Open, where he faces Chilean Cristian Garin in the first round.