Jiri Lehecka will have to make a quick turnaround following the toughest loss of his career as he prepares for a new week in the Middle East, this one at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
With a chance to reach his first ATP final, Lehecka had five match points against Andy Murray in the semis of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open this past Friday. The 21-year-old even got a look at triple championship point up 40-0 on his own serve at 5-4 in the third set, but could not convert. Murray eventually prevailed 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(6) after two hours and 29 minutes.
Nonetheless, it has been an outstanding season for Lehecka. Building on momentum from his 2022 NextGen ATP Finals runner-up performance, the Czech is 11-4 in 2023 with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open to go along with his success in Dubai. One of Lehecka’s wins has come at the expense of Alexander Zverev, who will be on the other side of the net on Monday.
Recent months have been a much different story for Zverev. The 25-year-old German is coming back from a terrible ankle injury at the 2022 French Open and has not been able to sustain any success. He is 3-6 this season after losing to Murray 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-5 in the Doha opening round. Zverev has already suffered five losses to opponents outside the top 50, including via a 6-4, 6-2 decision against Lehecka (ranked 81st at the time) at the United Cup.
All of the momentum in this matchup is with Lehecka, who should be considered the favorite even though he is still ranked 36 spots behind Zverev.
Pick: Lehecka in 2
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its hard, i would say lehecka cuz of the momentum, however zverev plays well
Going on the cold manner he took at the net after his loss to Murray, I am guessing Lehecka comes out like a honey badger. Zverev could lose again unless he has found his best form.
Would love to see ZV back in his old form, but he’s not there yer…Lka in 2.
Lehecka came out with energy for 1 set. I forget how impressive Zverev can be, and he has such an intimidating serve. This is not what I expected from Lehecka. Zverev is in control. Bring on Tsitsipas 😀 and Medvedev!
Yes, Andy has withdrawn, saying “precautionary.” Hope this is so.
He knows himself. Good call.