Despite being two of the most talented young players on tour with obvious aspirations for Grand Slam success, Sebastian Korda and Jiri Lehecka are hot holding back at the Winston-Salem Open.
As the start of the U.S. Open looms large on Monday, Korda and Lehecka have battled their way into the Winston-Salem semifinals and they will go head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Friday. Making it this far wasn’t easy for either man. Korda defeated Benjamin Bonzi and Marton Fucsovics in straight sets before outlasting Richard Gasquet 9-7 in a third-set tiebreaker; Lehecka needed three sets against both Mitchell Krueger and Dominik Koepfer before beating a red-hot Max Purcell 7-6(4), 6-4.
Speaking of Grand Slam success, both players advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals at the beginning of this season. Since then, however, Korda has been plagued by a wrist injury and had won a total of five matches heading into this week.
For Lehecka, he maintained his fine form from Down Under with a semifinal showing in Doha and multiple match wins at four other events in addition to Winston-Salem–including at Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round.
Lehecka is in superior form overall, is the more rested player following their respective quarterfinal matches, and he has never won an ATP title so the motivation level has to be high. This should be a competitive contest, but the edge goes to the 21-year-old Czech.
Pick: Lehecka in 3
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