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Why Lehecka believes he can beat Djokovic at Australian Open

Learn about the Czech’s success

January 18, 2025

Jiri Lehecka missed nearly four months during the 2024 season due to a stress fracture in his vertebra. Five months after his return, the Czech will step into one of the biggest moments of his career when he faces 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

One year ago, they met for the first time in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at the United Cup, where Djokovic won in three sets. For Lehecka, there were clear takeaways from the experience.

“That he is just a normal person, he’s not a god,” Lehecka said. “That a guy like him can also do a lot of mistakes but, at the same time, is a very experienced player who knows perfectly when to play what. He will use every chance he has to beat you so it will be a super tough match, but you never know what’s going to happen.”

It has been a dominant start to the season for the No. 29 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Lehecka claimed the second ATP Tour title of his career in Brisbane and is now 8-0 in singles in the 2025 season following his relatively smooth path to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

The Czech knows the difficulty of taking on a player of Djokovic’s calibre. But he is keen to focus on himself when he takes the court against the 24-time major champion.

“I already trust in my game and in the way we worked in the past two, three weeks here in Australia,” Lehecka said. “I’m very confident about the fact that if I’m going to show my best tennis, why shouldn’t I beat him?”

That sentiment will not surprise Djokovic, who stated in his Friday-evening press conference that he expected that.

“Lehecka is one of the fittest guys on the Tour, and I think his serve is underestimated. [It is] a big weapon. Wins a lot of free points in the first serve,” Djokovic said. “The more matches you win, the more confident you are, so I’m sure this kind of matchup comes at the right time for him. I’m sure he feels that he can beat me.”

Defeating Djokovic at the Australian Open has been one of the toughest tests in all of tennis over the past two decades. Since debuting at the season’s first major in 2005, the 37-year-old has tallied a 97-9 record. He has not failed to make the semi-finals here since 2018. But Lehecka is focused on his own game.

“I just try to focus on my game mostly and If it’s a dead guy or another guy on the other side, the only thing [that] is changing for me is the size of the arena we are playing in,” Lehecka said. “For me the most important thing is just to be focusing on myself and on the things that I do. I think that in the last couple of weeks in the last matches I was able to manage it. Of course, it will be a big, big challenge, but we will see what’s going to happen.”

Australia has been a happy hunting ground for Lehecka. Entering the 2023 Australian Open, he had never won a main draw match at a major, but surged to the quarter-finals. The 6’1” right-hander then claimed his maiden tour-level crown last year in Adelaide.

“I think the conditions suit me well. I feel good here on this surface, with these balls. It’s just something which helps me move my game to the spot where I want it to be and it’s super important for me,” Lehecka said. “I also like the country, I like the people, I like the environment in which we play. So this is super nice. I’m very happy with that. I try to push it further and further every year.”

The Czech explained that the ball bounces are “a bit higher” in Australia, which helps him play more aggressively and assists his serve and return.

Lehecka also enjoys life off the court at the home of the Happy Slam. Ahead of the tournament, he joined his team on a tram ride to St. Kilda Beach.

“We just wanted to have one day off. We just wanted to see something else than a hotel or tennis courts so for us it was very important to ease the mind a bit, to have good food somewhere else than in the tournament restaurant or at the hotel,” Lehecka told ATPTour.com. “It was a very nice afternoon at the beach and I think it helped me also to refresh my mind a bit and to look forward more to what is going to come here at the Australian Open.”

It was not that long ago that Lehecka spent more than two months without touching a racquet. Now he has a chance to play a generational athlete on a global stage.

“I must admit that I never doubted that it would come. I knew what kind of work we put in every day with the team to come back and to play again on the highest level,” Lehecka said. “So I was very confident about the way I was about to be playing in the next couple of months because I just simply knew that I worked pretty hard to get back on track.

“Of course right now, for me, it sounds amazing to play the next match against Novak, in the fourth round. But at the same time, this is one of the matches [that] shows me that the hard work pays off and hopefully I can go even further.”