Jiri Lehecka stuns Auger-Aliassime for spot in quarter-finals
Jiri Lehecka edged out Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) on Sunday night and will play the winner of the match between Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 3 seed, and Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 15 seed, in the next round
Jiri Lehecka Australian Open 2023 || AI / Reuters / Panoramic
After losing his Grand Slam debut at all four majors in 2022, Czech Jiri Lehecka has entered the 2023 season on a mission to prove himself.
He did it again on Sunday night in Melbourne, edging out Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 6 seed, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) to move into the last eight of the Australian Open.
Lehecka, ranked No 71, will look to continue his dream run in the quarter-finals, when he meets either Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the highest seed remaining in the draw, or Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 15 seed, in the last eight.
Lehecka has engineered a series of upsets to reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne. He entered the 2023 season with one top-25 win to his name and has already notched four, including three in his four matches in Melbourne.
The 21-year-old Czech defeated Croat Borna Coric, the No 21 seed (6-3, 6-3, 6-3), American wildcard Christopher Eubanks (6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3) and No 11 seed Cameron Norrie (6-7 (8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4) in the previous rounds.
Earlier in the tournament, Auger-Aliassime, ranked No 7, won against Vasek Pospisil (1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3), Slovak Alex Molcan (3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 28 seed (6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4).
Melbourne (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 24.297.942, most recent results first):
- Alex De Minaur vs. Novak Djokovic
- Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Tommy Paul
- Andrey Rublev vs. Holger Rune
- Ben Shelton vs. J.J. Wolf
- Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jannik Sinner
- Karen Khachanov (18) beat Yoshihito Nishioka (31): 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (4)
- Sebastian Korda (29) beat Hubert Hurkacz (10): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7)
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