Indian Wells Masters: Lehecka advances to first ATP 1000 quarter-final, beats Tsitsipas

No 32 seed Jiri Lehecka advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters by beating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 11 seed, 6-2, 6-4 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Tuesday

Lehecka, ranked No 32, will face the winner of the match between American Ben Shelton, the No 16 seed, and Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 3 seed, next.

It will be his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, and he achieved it with his first-ever win over Tsitsipas, who had won both previous encounters.

He is the 11th Czech man into a Masters 1000 quarter-final, and the first since Tomas Berdych did it at Miami in 2017. Berdych was also the last Czech man to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals, back in 2015.

“It means a lot. To play against these kind of players is a big challenge. I knew it would be super hard. I lost two of our previous matches. Of course we both knew each other and what we were heading into. I think I was the one that prepared much better. We saw it on the court with my activity, my aggressiveness. My aggressive style helped me today in these crucial moments.”

Jiri Lehecka edged out American wildcard Brandon Nakashima (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and won against Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed (6-4, 6-4) ahead of his victory.

Earlier in the tournament, Tsitsipas, ranked No 11, defeated French qualifier Lucas Pouille (6-3, 6-2) and American Frances Tiafoe, the No 18 seed (6-3, 6-3).

Indian Wells Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 9.495.555, most recent results first):

• Ben Shelton vs. Jannik Sinner
• Taylor Fritz vs. Holger Rune
• Daniil Medvedev vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Casper Ruud vs. Gael Monfils
• Luca Nardi vs. Tommy Paul
• Alexander Zverev vs. Alex De Minaur
• Fabian Marozsan vs. Carlos Alcaraz