Jiri Lehecka did what he needed to do in his quarterfinal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The Czech came out strong and aggressively against the ATP No. 3, and it took Alcaraz a bit to adjust. Lehecka won the first set convincingly against the Spaniard.
But taking one set in a match against Alcaraz is not uncommon. He is a brilliant player, capable of running anyone off the court, but he also takes enough chances when he shouldn't that he keeps opponents in matches they shouldn't be. When he tempers back, he is lethal.
The Czech began to try to make the court smaller because of Alcaraz's ability to move well, plus his hand skills to be able to get a ball back when close to the net that many players could. Not just in today's tennis, but ever. When beginning to lose control of the match against the Spaniard, many opponents try to make their shots too perfect.
Jiri Lehecka finds a way to come back to defeat Carlos Alcaraz
Lehecka never played poorly, though. The Spaniard has a feel for when his opponent is against the ropes. He doesn't let off the proverbial gas but instead gets even better. His opponent's belief to win begins to sharply diminish. One almost feels sorry for them.
The Czech could not match the consistency of the Spaniard. Alcaraz was just a tick better in nearly everything, it seemed. He landed more of his first serves and won more first-serve points. He did the same with his second serve. Little by little, Lehecka kept losing ground, even though many games remained close.
Then, a miracle for Lehecka occurred. Just when one might expect him to completely fold, he found a second wind. This included Lehecka getting a break of Alcaraz in the third set to even the set at 4-all. He was then able to hold to lead 5-4. One might have safely assumed that Alcaraz would hold serve to even the set, but instead, he dipped in form, and Lehecka remained stoic. He stopped pushing for low-percentage shots and started swinging away again.
He found a way to break Alcaraz for a second straight time, and took the final set. He won the match 6-3 3-6 6-4.
Lehecka will next play either Matteo Berrettini or Jack Draper in the semifinals. The other semi will feature Felix Auger-Aliassime versus Andrey Rublev.