Jiri Lehecka Reveals the Biggest Weapon of Carlos Alcaraz Ahead of their US Open Quarterfinals

Carlos Alcaraz, who has a 2-1 head-to-head record over Jiri Lehecka, is yet to win a match against the Czech on hard court.

Jiri Lehecka Reveals the Biggest Weapon of Carlos Alcaraz Ahead of their US Open Quarterfinals

Jiri Lehecka (image via US Open), Lehecka and Carlos Alcaraz (image via Getty)

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In a rematch of this year’s Queen’s Club Championships final, Jiri Lehecka and Carlos Alcaraz will meet each other in the quarterfinal of the 2025 US Open. For Lehecka, it marks his second Grand Slam quarterfinal and his first one at the US Open. Prior to this, he reached the 2023 Australian Open quarterfinal, where he lost to eventual runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas. Although Alcaraz has a 2-1 head-to-head record over Lehecka, none of those wins have come on hard court.

But this year at Flushing Meadows, the Spaniard has shown a more dominant and consistent performance, making him seem unstoppable. For someone who usually struggles in earlier rounds, often being pushed to four or five sets, Alcaraz has now reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal without dropping a set, even bagelling two opponents on the way.

What is even more interesting about this feat is that it has come on hard court for Alcaraz, who has traditionally had better results on clay and grass. After his fourth-round win over Adrian Mannarino, Lehecka spoke at the press conference about his upcoming opponent:

Against an opponent like Carlos, you must bring your tennis to the highest possible level. It’s not about playing a specific shot all the time, because he knows how to react, that’s his best weapon. He knows how to react when the other player is performing well and when they are trying to play in different ways. You need to give your best and stay focused throughout the match; I will try to do that and play my game. Let’s see how it goes

It will be interesting to see if the five-time Grand Slam champion can maintain his streak of straight-set victories or if Lehecka, who pushed Alcaraz to three sets in the Queen’s final, can get a set off him this time too. The Czech tennis star further added:

Playing against Alcaraz is one of the biggest challenges in tennis. He is a great player and has made significant progress in recent years. He has already won this tournament and knows how to play it. I am thrilled to face him, and the matches we have shared this year have been intense. I will try to showcase my skills, and we have never played together in a Grand Slam; I hope it will be a great match.

Apart from reaching his first quarterfinal at the US Open, Lehecka has also cracked into the top 20 for the first time, with the ATP live rankings placing him at World No. 15. The winner of this exciting quarterfinal matchup will face either home hope Taylor Fritz or 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.

Jiri Lehecka defeats Adrian Mannarino in four sets

Jiri Lehecka powered past 37-year-old Adrian Mannarino, who reached the fourth round of the US Open for the first time. The first set was quite tight, with both holding serve and Lehecka not facing any break points.

Jiri Lehecka US Open 2025
Jiri Lehecka (image via Instagram/Jiri lehecka)

The 23-year-old overcame a 1-4 deficit in the tiebreak to eventually seal the first set with a forehand winner. The next set was also closely contested till 4-4, after which Lehecka won the next two games to clinch the set.

The momentum changed in the third set, with the Frenchman surging to a 5-0 lead and breaking Lehecka to win the set. Mannarino once again got an early break in the fourth set, but this time Lehecka broke back to win six consecutive games and seal the match with an ace. He prevailed with a scoreline of 7-6(7-4), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.