Jiri Lehecka beat Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Lehecka converted four of his seven break points and won 72% of his first serve points.
Rinderknech went up a break twice in the second and sixth games to take a 4-2 lead. Lehecka pulled back on serve both times to draw level to 4-4. Lehecka saved two set points on serve at 5-6.
Lehecka earned two mini-breaks in the tie-break to take a 6-2 lead earning four set points. Rinderknech pulled one break back to save two set points for 4-6, but Lehecka served out the first set 7-4.
Lehecka raced out to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Rinderknech broke back in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4. Lehecka earned his fourth break on his seventh break point in the 12th game.
Lehecka finished runner-up to Brandon Nakashima in the Next Gen Finals in Milan and started his 2023 season with the first Grand Slam quarter final of his career at the Australian Open. He beat Andrey Rublev in the quarter final in Doha before losing to Andy Murray in three sets.
Lehecka set up a quarter final match against Rublev in their third head-to-head match. They are 1-1 in their previous head-to-head matches. Both matches went to the third set. Rublev beat Lehecka 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 in the Round of 16 in Belgrade. Lehecka avenged this defeat by beating Rublev 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the Doha quarter final last month.
If Lehecka beats Rublev, he would face either Denis Shapovalov or Ugo Humbert in the third round.
China’s Wu Yibing came back from one set down to beat Jaume Munar 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 7-6 (7-3). The Asian player set up a second round match against another Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Wu earned his first break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Munar broke back in the third game to draw level to 2-2. The tie-break started with four mini-breaks. Wu earned a mini-break to take a 4-3 lead. Munar pulled back on serve to draw level to 5-5. Munar won the final three points from 5-6 down to win the tie-break 8-6.
Wu broke three time to take a bagel win in the second set. The Chinese player broke in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead, but Munar broke straight back to draw level to 4-4. Lehecka earned two mini-breaks on the fifth and ninth games and sealed the tie-break 7-3 with a diving volley. .
