What was true last season is no longer true. If anywhere there is fear of the Czech flag on the tennis circuit, this time it is the ATP tour. After the rides of Markéta Vondroušová or Karolína Muchová last year, it is the Czech men who command the respect of the favorites in the tournaments. And the ongoing American streak in Miami only confirms this.
Last year, the tennis public was captivated by the comebacks of Vondroušová at Wimbledon and Muchová in Paris.
They beat the favourites, performed great performances. But while the former is gathering strength after a death in the family, the latter is recovering from wrist surgery.
Considering that Barbora Krejčíková also had health problems after the Grand Slam quarterfinals in Australia, Linda Nosková and Karolína Plíšková are the biggest Czech hopes in the women’s doubles at the tennis event in Miami.
The first of them flashed in Australia by scalping the world number one and participating in the quarter-finals, her older compatriot has a title in Cluj and a semi-final in Doha. However, they did not meet the form at the previous American event in Indian Wells.
But if anyone is being talked about in recent weeks, it is the young Czech tennis players who are fighting their way up. Jiří Lehečka, Tomáš Macháč and Jakub Menšík.
“This Czech trio really hits the nail on the head. And it’s such a young team,” noted British tennis reporter Chris Goldsmith on the X social network.
Lehečka currently has the most striking results. He won the first title of his career, collected the scalps of top 20 players and in Indian Wells even the top 5 tennis player Andrei Rublev.
“I really like his personality and I see that we have a lot in common in terms of tennis. I am happy that I can pass on the experience I have gathered to the new Czech generation. It is a new challenge for me,” said Tomáš Berdych, who in Indian Wells and Miami covers Leheček’s back as a coach.
As the twenty-sixth seed, the twenty-two-year-old tennis player from Kněžmost can enjoy an extra day of rest and wait for his opponent until the second round.
Tomáš Macháč also had a rocket start, who already this year defeated the British legend Andy Murray or the American Frances Tiafoe.
If he can get through the first round against 16-year-old American hope Darwin Blanch in Miami, he could be in for another big fight.
He would challenge the current world number six, the Russian Rubljov, who, in addition to Lehečka, has already been defeated by Menšík this year.
In the finals of the Florida qualifiers, he was surprisingly not enough against Slovakian Lukáš Klein, but he was brilliantly replaced by another Czech tennis player Vít Kopřiva, who is also having a great season and will play the Masters for the first time.
