He is one of the great promises of the men’s circuit. Use Lehecka seeks to continue advancing in the ranking after a remarkable start to the year. The young Czech, now number 47 in the world, continues his path in Indian Wells 2023, a tournament in which he has the opportunity to repeat his best victory so far. After a year in which he has made himself known throughout the world, Jiri comments with Tennis Majors on his goals and how he faces this new year overcoming the pressures.
A moment that has been brewing for a few months
“I thought it would be great to finish the year in the top 50, and now I’ve made that leap after only my second tournament of the year. I knew, and I even felt last season that my game was there, that I knew how to play. I knew that when I played well enough I could really beat the top guys. The key for me was to maintain consistency and show that level throughout several games.
The Next Gen Finals helped me a lot at the end of last year to gain confidence and show everyone, including myself, how well I can play. Then beating Alexander Zverev in the United Cup also gave me some confidence and from then on I was on the right track to do something big and play my game. I will continue to do what I think is best for my tennis.”
pressure and learning
“Last year I had the opportunity to play against some very good guys, in some I did very well on my part, but in certain crucial moments I made some mistakes or did not play the way I wanted. Mentally, it was not easy to handle all that pressure when I felt that I was the one who had to win that match. That is also something that I have worked a lot on, on how to learn from this situation and from the games that I lost. Last season filled me with experience, but I already feel that this year is very different. Now is the year to use the experience I learned.”
