Photo Source: TTV
Jiri Lehecka is one win away from becoming the King of Queen's.
Lehecka defeated Jack Draper 6-4 4-6 7-5 to earn his first Top 10 win since knocking off Carlos Alcaraz in Doha in February. He also became the first Czech man to reach an ATP grass court final since Tomas Berdych reached the Wimbledon final in 2010.
The Czech reaches his first ATP 500 final.
“I felt that in the end of the second set and at the beginning of the third Jack was the better player,” Lehecka said. “He was more calm, he had more chances and I felt that he was the one who was dictating the pace of play. But I found the rhythm on my serve again, which helped me serve a few games out – right after that I felt like I was back in the game. “The most important thing is that I did not give up. I still believed that I will have a chance. Very happy with that and very happy with the way that I served it out.”
Lehecka is the first Czech man to reach the Queen’s final since Ivan Lendl in 1990.
The 23-year-old fired 16 aces and saved five of six break points as he got the best of the No.2 seed in a tense struggle that came down to the wire.
Draper looked to have all the momentum after he stole away with the second set, bunting a perfect backhand winner up the line to break in the tenth game as he claimed the set, 6-4.
After missing out on a break point with Draper serving at 4-4 in the third, Lehecka took the reins and got the job done in Draper’s next service game.
Lehecka rocketed a pass with Draper serving at 5-5, 15-30 to earn two more break points in the third. Then he laced a backhand winner to break, which left draper furious. The Brit smashed his racquet into the courtside signage and drew a warning.
Lehecka then served out the match in style, serving two first-serve service winners to close out his win. “It means a lot, you don’t beat a player like Jack every day,” said Lehecka, who recorded his eighth career Top-10 win and his third of this season.
Lehecka hit 36 winners, including 14 off the forehand wing, while Draper hit 29 winners and 10 forehand winners.
It’s all part of an impressive uptick in form by Lehecka on the grass. He reached the Wimbledon round of 16 in 2023, but was forced to miss the grass season due to injury last season. He then made the quarterfinals in Stuttgart in his first grass event this season. In total he has won nine of 11 on the surface to take his career record on grass to 11-6.