Jiri Lehecka About

The Czech first-strike heir who reached his first Masters final at Miami

Jiri Lehecka is the standard-bearer for the Czech power-baseline lineage, a right-hander born in Mladá Boleslav in November 2001 who carries the country's first-strike tradition into the current top 12. His father was a professional swimmer and his mother a track-and-field athlete; he started playing with his mother and grandfather, then left home to begin training in Prostejov as a 15-year-old. The junior pedigree was real — a former World No. 10 junior, he won the 2019 Wimbledon boys' doubles title with countryman Forejtek.

The game is built on serve-plus-forehand pressure. He's serving roughly 8.4 aces per match over the last 52 weeks — up from a career average near 5.9 — behind a first-serve win rate around 76%. The forehand is his self-declared favourite shot, and while hard court is home base, grass has become a genuine weapon: "my game is stronger on grass and I can use my weapons more," he's said. The persistent vulnerability is the clay-court grind and the return game against elite movers — his record against top-10 opponents sits well under .500.

His first tour-level signal came as a qualifier at 2022 Rotterdam, where he upset Denis Shapovalov and ran to the semifinals on debut. The titles followed at hard-court ATP 250s — Adelaide in 2024 and Brisbane in 2025. The defining leap was last autumn: he broke into the Top 20 at a career-high No. 16 in September 2025 after a US Open quarterfinal run, joining Berdych, P. Korda and Lendl as the only Czech men to reach the last eight at both hard-court majors. Wins over Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz at Doha 2026 underline that he can take down the very top on his day.

The current beat is his biggest career result yet: a runner-up finish at the 2026 Miami Open, his first Masters 1000 final, before pivoting to the clay swing. He sits at a career-high No. 12 and remains the Czech No. 1, just ahead of Jakub Mensik.

Jiri Lehecka at a glance

Jiri Lehecka is 24 years old; was born in Mlada Boleslav, Czechia; lives in Knezmost, Czech Republic; stands 1.85 m; plays right-handed; and is ranked No. 19 in the ATP rankings.