Jiří Lehečka will miss his third clay court tournament before the French Open due to back problems. After an absence in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, he made it to the semi-finals in Madrid, but he renewed his injury and withdrew from the next Masters in Rome, as expected. The event in the Italian capital starts in three days.
Jiří Lehečka started to struggle with back pain already during the Masters 1000 tournaments in the USA in March. In Indian Wells, he still made it to the quarterfinals, but in Miami he was eliminated after the first match and subsequently withdrew from the clay events in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
He only started the clay spring in Madrid, where he reached the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 tournament for the first time thanks to the scalps of the slowly recovering Rafael Nadal and the injured Daniil Medvedev. However, he gave up in the seventh game on Friday due to unbearable pain.
“I’m devastated that my first Masters 1000 semi-final ended like this. But I’ll take a lot of positive things. I’ll shake it off,” Lehečka wrote afterwards on the X platform. Just two days later, he withdrew from the upcoming Masters in Rome, where the main competition starts on Wednesday.
Jiri Lehecka has withdrawn from Rome.
This injury couldn’t have come at a worse time.
After having a career-best tournament in Madrid, this is tough.
Hoping he’s rested and recovered for Roland Garros.
❤️ pic.twitter.com/pYZQSNyld5
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 5, 2024
The 22-year-old native of Mladá Boleslav has made only one appearance at the Foro Italico complex in the Italian capital, last year he lost in the tie-break of the third set against the Hungarian Fábián Marozsán in his opening appearance.
Before Roland Garros, which starts on Sunday, May 26, Leheček, the 23rd player in the world, remains registered at 250 in Geneva, Switzerland.
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner (right hip), world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz (right forearm) have already withdrawn from Rome due to injuries, and it is very likely that the fourth man in the rankings and last year’s champion Daniil Medvedev (right hip) will also be excused.
2024-05-05 19:47:25
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