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Czech is into the fourth round at Wimbledon
Editor's Note: This story was first published on 22nd June 2023.

In 2019, Czech star Tomas Berdych announced his retirement from tennis after a storied 17-year career. In the same year, countryman Jiri Lehecka made his tour-level debut, representing his nation in the Davis Cup.

Four years on and the 21-year-old Lehecka is the face of Czech men’s tennis, the same position former World No. 4 Berdych held season after season. The World No. 36 has already achieved a series of impressive results on Tour. He advanced to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January and has reached semi-finals in Rotterdam (in 2022) and Doha (2023).

His success caught the attention of Berdych, who after spending time with Lehecka in Dubai, decided to join the team on a more regular basis.

“It is great having Tomas with me,” Lehecka told ATPTour.com in London. “He was in Monte-Carlo and he was in Rome and he will join us on Sunday here in London to do two weeks here at Wimbledon. I think that the cooperation works well.”

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Berdych captured 13 tour-level titles in his career, including an ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris in 2005. He was in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from July 2010 until October 2016, reaching the Wimbledon final in 2010.

Lehecka, who also works full-time with coach Michal Navratil, is delighted to have Berdych’s experience to lean on.

“He already has a different perspective from which he sees things,” Lehecka said. “He can see it from a different position because he was there for a long time. He played really good tennis on grass so he can give me some good tips on how to play.

“I think that it works well. We’ll see what the season brings, but for now I think that it's helpful and that we gave him some small insight back to the game. I think that he started to miss it a bit, not playing. He likes to just to be around it I think.”


Now working together, Lehecka revealed that Berdych was a major inspiration for him when he grew up.

“I remember watching him during the final of the Davis Cup in 2012 when Czech beat Spain in Prague,” Lehecka said. “That was the first time where for me it was like, ‘Wow, this is one of the moments which I would love to feel myself’. It was funny because when I spoke with him, for him it is not that different. After all, 25 to 35 is not as big a difference as if you are 11 or 21. It was a funny moment and we had some fun talking about it.”

Lehecka will hope to channel Berdych’s grass-court abilities when he competes at Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old is playing in his sixth tour-level event on the surface, having earned his second grass-court win in his first-round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at The Queen's Club. The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up is a huge fan of the surface despite his limited experience.

“I think that the grass season is the holiday of tennis because it requires something more from everyone,” Lehecka said. “From taking care of the grass with the ground keepers to everyone else who is trying to take care about the tournament because grass is grass. You can’t just build a court and leave it there. The grass quality here is huge and I think that Queen’s is an amazing tournament.

“It's the surface where it really shows you the truth. It's a surface where you really need to show your skills. If you're not a good player, then you will never have a good result. It's not like one of the surfaces where you can just run around and try to grind it out. You really need to have that shot quality to get the point. I'm a very big fan of all that.”

Czech recovered to defeat Paul in five-set thriller at Wimbledon
Jiri Lehecka had little time for regrets on Saturday as he battled for a fourth-round spot at Wimbledon against Tommy Paul.

The Czech was match point up in the fourth-set tie-break when he stopped play to challenge a forehand from his American opponent. Hawkeye went on to confirm the ball had clipped the line, Paul ultimately claimed the fourth set and the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting headed for a decider on No. 12 Court.

“My mind wasn't in a good state at that moment, because the way I lost that match point was a mistake from my side,” Lehecka later told ATPTour.com. “I took a challenge to Hawkeye at a moment where it wasn't necessary, and it was a big mistake... It was like an emotional crisis at that moment.”

There was a happy ending for Lehecka at SW19, however. The World No. 37 recomposed himself to complete a 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-7(9), 6-2 triumph and reach the fourth round at the grass-court major for the first time.

“I didn't really feel good [after the fourth set], I was already seeing myself winning that match,” explained the Czech. “But I knew that the only way to get through was to push myself to the limit, and to bounce back and to mentally recover in the beginning of the fifth set. That's what I did during the toilet break, and the fifth set was good set from my side.”


Lehecka’s triumph against the 16th-seeded Paul was in stark contrast to the two straight-sets wins with which he opened his Wimbledon campaign. The way he dispatched Sebastian Ofner and Eastbourne champion Francisco Cerundolo in south-west London was impressive for a young player who had played just two tour-level matches on grass prior to June.

“At the beginning of the grass court season, I was a bit more confident about myself,” explained Lehecka. “Because I already had that experience from last year when I lost a tough match here, but still played two tournaments on grass before. I knew what to do better, I knew where I needed to improve, and together with experience from my team and from myself, what I gathered this year, I felt that my game can fit very well on the surface. So far, it's alright.”

Lehecka’s recent development has been bolstered by the presence in his corner of his countryman Tomas Berdych. The former World No. 4, who reached the final at Wimbledon in 2010, joined the 21-year-old’s team as a semi-regular coach earlier this year, and Lehecka believes the arrangement has been particularly beneficial for his grass-court game.

“The advice he gave me on this grass season was that it's more about details, the game style and that these matches are not won by two or three things. There are a couple more things which are very important to keep my eye on during important moments. During tie-breaks, for example. Then of course, it's very important to focus on my serve and return, even more than on clay or on hard courts, because these two shots are the most important shots in tennis, I would say, but moreso on grass.

“That led to us practising serving and returning a lot during last week and also this week. We were trying to work on specific serving methods. He was trying to do some different styles of serve for me, to [show me how to move] into the right position on return. So return and serve are two things we have focused on a lot here.”

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Lehecka has now registered a personal-best 24 tour-level match wins this season and is up five places to No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his first-week exploits at Wimbledon — a mark that would be a new career-high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Instead of thinking of his progress in milestones, however, the Czech remains determined to take things one small step at a time.

“I always try to do my best on court, and the ranking will come if I play good,” said Lehecka. “This is my mindset. I always try to win as many matches as I can, win tournaments. I go into every tournament with the mindset that I believe in myself and that I can win it. If I do it, then it's good. If I win matches, then it's also good. If I lose matches, then it's not good. So it's easy for me to say that I know that I have the level to be where I am.

“I'm really confident about going even higher. Of course I don't want to speak about whether I will win Wimbledon or if I am one of the favourites. I just want to speak about my mentality, which is that I'm very confident about my game style.

“I think that my playing style fits very well on grass, and if I keep my mind sharp, and if I really try to do my best and I play every point as it allows, then I think that I have good that good chance to go even further in this tournament.”

Czech next plays Arnaldi
Top seed at a tour-level event for the first time, Jiri Lehecka coped with the pressure on Thursday when he defeated former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-5 at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.

The Czech won 82 per cent (31/38) of his first-serve points in his maiden meeting against Thiem, and rallied from a break down in the second set to advance after one hour and 41 minutes.

The 21-year-old, who is making his debut in Umag, will next play seventh seed Matteo Arnaldi in the quarter-finals. Lehecka and Arnaldi both competed at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, where the Czech defeated the Italian en route to the final.

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Lehecka has used that result as a springboard this season, highlighted by his run to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and fourth round at Wimbledon. The World No. 33’s best result on clay prior to this week was a third-round appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo.

Lehecka is seeking his maiden tour-level title this week at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

The 2015 Umag champion Thiem was aiming to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season. The Austrian leaves Croatia 9-17 on the season.

The Czech shares what hockey team he supports
Have you ever sent a direct message to somebody famous? Jiri Lehecka has!

The 21-year-old revealed who it was in the latest edition of ATP Uncovered’s ‘I Am’ series.

“I sent a message to Petra Kvitova when she won her first Wimbledon [in 2011],” said Lehecka, who was a fan of the lefty's game from a young age.


Kvitova first lifted the Wimbledon trophy 12 years ago. Little did the lefty or Lehecka know they would compete at this season’s United Cup together.

Now Lehecka has fans just like he once was. The Top 40 star hopes to follow in Kvitova's footsteps and achieve several career ambitions he revealed later in the video.

The Czech also shared more about his life away from tennis including what hockey team he supports, his favourite cheat meal and the music genre he enjoys.

Watch the full video above to find out what three tips he would give to young tennis players, his first tennis memory, how he would describe his off-court personality and more.