Jiri Lehecka chased Carlos Alcaraz when he in the career height in Doha | ATP tour

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Lehecka chases Alcaraz in the search for career height in Doha

The Czech will jump in 22th place in PIF ATP Live Ranking by defeating Top Seed at ATP 500

February 20, 2025

Jiri Lehecka is about the newcomer with newcomer in the Qatar Exxonmobil Open in Doha this week.

The 23-year-old stormed with an 11-2 record 2025, won his second title at the tour level in Brisbane and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before taking up 10-time master Novak Djokovic. Lehecka will now be in 25th place in the PIF ATP ranking on the edge of his career high in the world in the world with a quarter-finals on Thursday in Doha. His opponent? Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard heads her Lexus ATP Head2head Series 1-0 after defeating Lehecka on the way to the ATP 500 title in the Queen’s Club in 2023.

“It was his first ATP tournament on grass,” Lehecka recalled on Atptour.com in Doha. “I had played Stuttgart before, so I felt like I was in good shape. I have to say that I was very surprised by his level of how very well he played on grass. I knew () that he liked to play in hard places, definitely on sound, but grass I felt that it could have been his worst surface. He immediately proved me wrong. He showed his skills that he can also bring his top game to grass. “

A lot has changed since this meeting in 2023. Now Lehecka has a two-time champion at tour level and has collected a total of six victories against top 10 opponents. While the Czech player suffered a four -month stay on the side last year, which stopped his swing, he returned with more hunger than ever before.

“I have to say that one (victory) that is something very special for me after the comeback,” said Lehecka. “It was definitely one of the top 10 victories that I will remember for a long time. I don’t want to say that it was surprising for me because I felt that I had the level, but I didn’t really think about playing so well after I hadn’t played for four months. “

Lehecka bore his shape in 2025, where he scored a winning streak with eight games to start the season. He was forced to step down from his second game in Rotterdam at the beginning of this month, but hopes to use the training hit that he had with Alcaraz this week for his advantage when they step into battle on Thursday.

“We practiced together in Rotterdam two weeks ago,” said Lehecka when he was asked about Alcaraz about his relationship. “We also practiced together here in (Doha) at the beginning of the week. We all know each other, we follow the results. In the end, it is almost the same players every week who compete against each other. We know about each other and will see how it works. “

If Lehecka can prevail in Doha on Thursday, it is not the first time that he defeated a Spanish superstar. At the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid last year, Lehecka went to silence a lot at home to sink the five -time master Rafael Nadal in his last appearance at the event. The 23-year-old will try to achieve this experience as an attempts from another statement that Alcaraz’s profit series from Alcaraz would end to ATP 500 levels.

“It was a great experience because I not only played against Rafa, but played against 13,000 Spanish fans,” Lehecka recalled. “When I made a great shot, nobody was cheering for me, and when I made a double mistake, the entire arena broke out, which I have to say, is understandable. When a legend like this announced that he will play in Madrid for the last time …

“Rafa was not in his heyday when I played against him, but it was still a big challenge to play Rafa on Clay in Madrid. It was a big memory, and I was very happy that I had the chance to have the court to share with him.