Jiri Lehecka is enjoying a dream return to competitive tennis at the Cincinnati Masters after knocking out former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
The Czech world No.35 ousted the fourth seed 7-6(2), 6-4, in what was only the second match he has played since May. Lehecka has been sidelined from the Tour due to a back problem that was so serious he was unable to pick up a racket for two of those months. Against Medvedev, he won 70% of his service points and converted all five of his break point opportunities.
“It’s amazing to be back, to be honest,” atptour.com quoted Lehecka as saying. “It was a long time since I was playing on a big stage, so I enjoyed every moment of it today. To get a win again such a good player, talented player as Daniil surely is, is just a bonus for me.”
The 22-year-old was making waves on the Tour just before his injury occurred. At the Madrid Masters, he reached the semi-finals before being forced to pull out of the tournament. He won the Adelaide International at the start of the year and also reached the quarter-finals in Indian Wells.
Following his latest win, Lehecka wrote on the camera lens ‘I am back!’ He is coached by Michal Navratil and Tomas Berdych is also part of his team.
Awaiting him in the third round will be Frances Tiafoe, who dropped just five games against Lorenzo Musetti in his match on Wednesday. It is only the second time this year that the American has beaten a top 20 player. His first win was over Holger Rune in Washington.
“I know he just came from the Olympics, so those are the kind of matchups you want,” Tiafoe said of Musetti. “I’ve been on the hard courts since Atlanta, only been playing better each and every week. I thought that was the biggest difference.”
Lehecka is now 5-14 against top 10 players on the Tour. However, three of those wins have occurred this year.
