Lehečka beat Norrie in five sets and is in the round of 16 of the Australian Open!

Jiří Lehečka he made his debut at all the Grand Slams last year and won at least a set each time, but was unable to win even one of the four duels. However, he gained a lot of valuable experience during the season, “settled” in the Top 100 and ended the year with a defeat in the final of the Tournament of Champions for players under 21 years old.

And he is now selling the acquired game practice and self-confidence at the beginning of the new season. The 21-year-old native of Mladá Boleslav won 7 out of 9 matches and recorded his first three Grand Slam wins at the Australian Open.

In Melbourne, Lehečka knocked out the Croatian Borna Čorić (23rd in the ATP), the American Christopher Eubanks (116th) and today he also won a more than three-hour battle with Cameron Norrie (12th). He defeated the six-year-old Briton 6-7 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-4 and avenged his nine-day defeat in Auckland. He succeeded for the first time in the third mutual duel.

In the first six games after his serve, Leheček lost only six balls, but did not use any of the three break points, did not convert three set points in the tie-break, and Norrie won 10-8. However, the Czech tennis player continued his good service game, won a break at the beginning of the second set and later equalized.

In the third set, Leheček lost his serve for the first time and Norrie returned to the lead. However, the Czech tennis player found a recipe for his opponent’s serve in the next course, breaking it three times in the fourth set and forcing a fifth set.

In her opener, favored Norrie failed to hold serve for the fourth time in a row and had his knee treated. Although Lehečka did not confirm the break at 4-1 and the Brit raised hopes, the Czech tennis player did not allow any more drama.

Those next round feels for Lehecka #AusOpen #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/DdxM6Hxj6n

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2023

“I felt that I could win in the end. It was a great match, Cameron played incredibly. Thank you to all the fans, I really enjoyed your support,” Lehečka rejoiced in the solidly filled Kia Arena after his victory over last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist.

“It’s amazing. I feel amazing after advancing to the next round. Last year was tough for me, I played all the Grand Slams for the first time and I never won. Being here now is something new for me. I’m super happy to advance.” stated Lehečka.

He defeated Top 20 player Leheček for the third time in his career and the second time in the season. He has a 3-7 record with them. He equaled his best by scalping the world number 12 – for the first time last year in Rotterdam, he caught Canadian Denis Shapovalov by surprise, and for the second time in this year’s United Cup, he knocked down the returning German Alexander Zverev after injury.

Lehečka became the first Czech to reach the round of 16 of the men’s singles Grand Slam since 2019, when Tomáš Berdych reached the top sixteen in Melbourne. Berdych is also the last Czech quarterfinalist (Australian Open 2018), semifinalist (Wimbledon 2017) and finalist (Wimbledon 2010).

Lehečka will play the world number 7 Canadian for a place in the quarter-finals and, theoretically, a first move into the Top 50 Felix Auger-Aliassim (h2h 0-0). He is 0-4 against Top 10 players with losses to Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrei Rublev, Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz.

Last year’s quarter-finalist Félix Auger-Aliassime this year, he didn’t even win on the third try without losing a set. Two days after turning from 0-2 down to sets against Slovakian Alex Molčan, today he managed 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-4 against the Argentinian Francis Cerúndole.

Sinner turned from 0-2 to sets for the first time
Namále was seeded fifteenth in the third round Jannik Sinnerwho lost to Mártonem Fucsovicsem the opening two acts. But the 21-year-old Italian improved and, with the help of a large number of unforced errors by his opponent, turned the match from 0-2 to sets for the first time in his career and finally defeated the Hungarian 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-0.

“The first two sets were difficult for me. It was obvious that I had to change something in my game. Although I didn’t feel bad, I was missing the final strokes. I didn’t play well tactically either,” said Sinner.

Sinner is fighting for a repeat of last year’s quarter-finals Stefanosi Tsitsipasov (h2h 1-4), to whom a year-old elimination can repay. The Greek tennis player continues without losing a set and in addition, in the last two matches, he did not hesitate to serve even once. The semi-finalist of three of the last four years managed to beat the Dutchman 6-2 7-6 6-3 today in a battle between two undefeated players this year Tallonem Grecopoorem.

“I think I changed my shots well today. I was slicing, sometimes I opened the court. I also had exceptional service placement. I didn’t have to exchange often after serving, which helped me to ‘clean sheet’,” Tsitsipas commented on his seventh win in the seventh duel this year.

“I enjoyed today’s fight, also thanks to the great spectators. Once again I had the fans behind me, it’s always a great feeling,” added the Greek, who will become world number one for the first time in the event of his first Grand Slam triumph.

He reached the round of 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time at the age of 27 Yoshihito Nishioka. The Japanese conqueror of Dalibor Svrčina even went through it without losing a set, today he managed 7-6 6-3 6-2 against the health-indisposed American Mackenzie McDonaldwho knocked out the defending champion and the number one seed Rafael Nadal the day before yesterday.

Nišioka will compete with Karen Khačanov or Frances Tiafoe for the second improvement of his maximum at the events of the big four.