Although it is a relatively small country, the Czech Republic is one of the largest manufacturers of tennis players in the world. While in the women’s field it is still a power, in the men’s team they have not yet found a great tennis player after the retirement of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek. That gap now hopes to be filled. Jiri Lehecka, the man who Rafael Nadal will be measured this Tuesday (10:00 p.m. on Movistar+ and Teledeporte) in the round of 16 of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Owner of a fast and electric tennis, with a serve that flies in Madrid, Lehecka has Berdych in his technical team – although he is not in the Caja Mágica this week – and he has plenty of confidence and self-confidence. “I don’t want it to sound bad, but Nadal is number 600 in the world”, he said on Monday night, emboldened after eliminating the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro and meeting the 22-time Grand Slam champion. He said it seriously, although he immediately burst out laughing as if trying to demean his words.I should be the favorite, but of course, we know that it is Rafa and that it is on clay. But I also know that I have the level to play good tennis here.”
Nadal, who occupies exactly 512th place in the world ranking after almost two years without competing, He is 15 years older than Lehecka and arrives at the duel with a good beating to the body after battle for more than three hours on Monday against Pedro Cachín. That matters little to Lehecka: he knows that he will face one of the greatest legends in the sport.
“It is a great honor and a great experience for me because we all know that Rafa on land is one of the biggest challenges in tennis. Even if he’s not having, let’s say… the best season. He got injured and stuff… But after seeing his level against De Minaur, I want to say that He has returned and has shown that he can play great tennis again. It will be a great challenge for me and I will be very happy to share the court with him,” the Czech tennis player, number 31 in the world ranking at 23 years old, told the media.
Lehecka, who was one of the chosen by Nadal to train in his preparation for the clay court tour, assured that “it is always different” in the competition training sessions. “When we trained, it was a training session, there was a lot of wind and it was on a smaller track than the central one,” she explained. “It was a training session, so it’s something totally different. I think with Rafa there is a huge big difference if he has all the fans supporting him. It will be totally different.”
“If we talk about the level he showed, he definitely improved his game. I don’t want to be disrespectful, pbut the draw was so easy in the first round helped him regain his shape, to find your level. Then, against De Minaur, he played great tennis and will continue at that level,” analyzed Lehecka.
The Czech, however, believes that if there is a time and a place to beat Nadal on land it is now and it is in Madrid, a place where the altitude conditions make his tennis much less overwhelming. “I know that These conditions here in Madrid are one of the worst for your clay court tennis. Of course, if we were talking about Monte Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, Barcelona… it would be totally different. “I will enter the court as if I were going to win and I will try to show my best tennis.”
Finally, Lehecka stated that one of his goals this year is to finish 2024 in the top 20. “This is my goal. This is something I aspire to. Of course, if things get better and better, then my goals will change a little (…) In Madrid last year I lost easily in the first round and things like that They happened to me a couple of times. I think I’m on a good path in this, starting in Dubai, continuing in the US and now here we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
Rafael Nadal
Roland Garros
2024-04-30 04:29:34
#dont #sound #bad #600th #world #Relief
