“I’m very happy for that. Tomáš is a person who has a lot of experience at the highest level, where we are also heading. He was there for a very long time and he is an important factor in our team,” said Lehečka.
The 21-year-old native of Mladá Boleslav was brought together with Berdych by Navrátil, who has known the winner of 13 ATP singles tournaments since childhood. They were already in contact during the Australian Open in January, a month later Berdych joined Leheček at the tournament in Dubai.
“He spent a few days with us, we played together and he gave us some observations. It was the first moment when we felt each other and got to know each other,” Lehečka recalled. “We agreed to try the first two weeks in Monaco, where we spent the week before the tournament and then the tournament itself. When we both saw that it was working well that it has something to bring to both of us, it suits me and I have added value, we agreed that he will go with me for the next few weeks,” he said.
They don’t have a contract. “We are people who don’t want to solve something through papers. Now we know each other very well and he knows Michal. What we agree on is valid,” said Lehečka.
“Our team is like a bigger family. We all work together and it’s not like a player or a coach says something and it can’t be changed. We discuss everything, we want to have good communication. When I, Tomáš or Michal come up with an idea, we calmly discuss it with the others and come up with the best result, because more heads know more,” said the 40th player in the world.
Leheček does not want to call Berdych a super coach, but he values his influence very much. “Tomáš is more like a mentor. Maybe a great coach. I don’t know what it’s called now. There used to be an era of super coaches, but I think that he is simply another member of the team, whose name is Tomáš Berdych, and he has something to give us,” said Lehečka.
More than the technique of the game, Berdych deals with training settings or things in the background. He relies precisely on the experience of the 2010 Wimbledon finalist. But when we put them together, it takes enough time and enough details that can save power. On the court, I use his observations as a player who had a lot of experience with other coaches, what they told him and what he now sees independently.”
He also uses Berdych, who is sixteen years older, in passing or as a sparring partner. He considers the cooperation to be pleasant all the more because the native of Valašské Meziříčí was his childhood role model.
“It’s a funny thing. The fact that we are now together every day for several hours a day, I don’t take it that way. But subconsciously I realize that he was the one I modeled my game around when I was younger and had no firm guidance. Now we are both in a different position. He’s finished his career and I hope I’m at the beginning. We’ll see how it goes. So far, we both feel the potential that we are going in the right direction,” added Lehečka.
He notices that Berdych also enjoys working together. “I don’t want to speak for him, but I think he got it too. I believe that it fulfills him, he enjoys it and that it is something new. According to him, he does not miss his tennis career, but he enjoys this. He likes to look at it from a different side, and when he knows that he has something to help and to pass on, it fulfills him. I hope it will last as long as possible,” added Lehečka, who will try to improve on last year’s premiere appearance at Roland Garros, during which he was eliminated in the 1st round.
