Jiri Lehecka Reaches New High With Miami Open Run

Friday in Miami, Jiri Lehecka played his second-ever Masters 1000 semifinal. In his first—Madrid, in 2024—he was forced to retire six games into the match. For the longest time, injuries have been the tale of Lehecka’s career, but now in Miami, he’s writing a new story.

Until now, this season has been up-and-down for Lehecka. He started it off with a retirement in the second round of Brisbane, and he couldn’t win more than two matches in a row. But every tournament presents opportunities to turn things around, and Lehecka seized the moment in Miami.

Lehecka Reaches New High In Miami

None of his ATP Miami matches were by any means an easy out, but he pulled through all the same.

In his opening match, he faced up-and-coming player Moise Kouame, who was coming off his first-ever Tour-level win. Lehecka shut Kouame’s momentum down, winning a dominant first set and snatching a last-minute break to take the second. 

He had a similar third-round match, up against a rising Ethan Quinn, and Lehecka was just as clinical. Winning the first set quickly and staying cool under pressure in the second-set tiebreak, Lehecka notched another solid win.

With how well he was playing, it was more than feasible that his pattern of losses would come to an end. But his fourth-round opponent was the sixth seed, Taylor Fritz. Lehecka trailed 4-1 in the head-to-head, and as the match got going, it looked as though Fritz might shut down Lehecka’s run. Lehecka faced four break points at 2-2, and just barely managed to hold serve.

But what mattered was that he held, not how he did it. In the very next game, Lehecka broke Fritz and faced just one more break point in the entire rest of the match. Despite dropping the second set in a tiebreak, Lehecka stayed solid and won the third set, 6-2, completing the upset. 

Lehecka out-served one of the best servers on Tour, and his serve quality doesn’t only apply to that match. Lehecka has only faced nine break points in the entire tournament, and he hasn’t been broken once.

Both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Martin Landaluce and Arthur Fils, respectively, were meant to be something of a “Next Gen battle,” but really, it was all Lehecka. He won both in straight sets, advancing to his first-ever Masters 1000 final.

Injuries throughout his career have hampered Jiri Lehecka’s best tennis, but in Miami none of that mattered. The last two weeks, Lehecka has played like one of the best in the world, and with this run to the final, he’s risen to a career high of No. 14 in the world. No matter what happens in the final, it has been a monumental run for Lehecka, and perhaps one that will push him to the next level.