Jiri Lehecka is satisfied but thinks “there’s still a lot of room for improvement” | ATP Tour

Miami

Lehka is satisfied, but believes that “there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

Czech team set to hit career high after competing in maiden ATP Masters 1000 final

March 30, 2026

Jiri Lehecka is very proud of his unexpected run to the final at the Miami Open hosted by Itau. The Czech lost to Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s championship match, his first ATP Masters 1000 final, an experience that highlighted his progress and his thirst for more.

“I think games like today against these guys show me that there’s a lot, a lot of room for improvement,” Lehka said at the postgame press conference. “I think I played a very good game here. I’m very happy with my game.

“But I saw again today that I still have a long way to go and I really need to keep improving if I want to beat these guys at the end of big tournaments like the Masters and Grand Slams.”

Lehka, who reached a career-high No. 14 in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings, had a stellar serve in Miami that was never broken until the final. He saved nine break points in three games and did not face a break point in the other two games leading up to the championship. Sinner wasted no time, ending Lehka’s streak on the Czech’s second serve.

Still, Lehka, 24, was pleased with his stellar serving performance in South Florida.

“Over the past few weeks and months, I’ve been trying to get my key weapons to work in all of these games,” Lehka said. “Of course, I would have loved to have kept my serve all year, but that was not possible. Jannik played a really good return of serve and I felt him putting more and more pressure on me throughout the match.”

Lehka lost 0-4 in the Lexus ATP head-to-head series with Sinner, but Sunday’s match was more of a contest than their third-round meeting at Roland Garros last year, when the Italian won comfortably 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. The three-set match in Paris lasted one hour and 34 minutes, just one minute longer than Sinner’s two-set victory at Hard Rock Stadium.

“I performed better today than I did in Paris, so I’m focused on not repeating the mistakes I made then,” Lehka said. “That means using my first serve as a weapon and hitting the net more.

“At Roland Garros last year, I felt like the conditions were extremely difficult for my style of play. We were playing under the roof of the Suzanne Lenglen court, super humid conditions, heavy balls. I felt like he was the guy who basically had all the weapons at that point. I couldn’t control my serve. Every time I hit a good shot, he had enough time to counterattack in some way.”

Lehka comes to Miami with a 6-5 season record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and will now take to the European clay courts buoyed by his latest performance.

“I reached the final here, so I think with my own confidence, even training on Monte Carlo clay will be easier for me,” Lehka said. “At the same time, there’s no better place to start the new year than Monte Carlo. It’s a fantastic place and I love staying there as long as possible.”