Jiri Lehecka beats Arthur Fils in Miami to reach first Masters 1000 final | ATP Tour

match report

Lehecka seals victory in Miami and beats Fils to reach first M1000 final

The Czech will face either Sinner or Zverev in the most important title fight of his career

March 27, 2026

Jiri Lehecka achieved a new breakthrough at the Miami Open hosted by Itau after a flawless performance in the semi-finals.

The 21st-seeded Czech reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final with an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory over Arthur Fels at Hard Rock Stadium. Lehka, a two-time ATP Tour champion, faced no break points in his title-match booking against either Jannik Sinner or Alexander Zverev.

game. put. Giri Masterclass. 👨‍🏫

nothing can disturb @jirilehecka Today, he reached the Masters 1000m final for the first time and defeated Phils 6-2, 6-2!@miamiopen | #miamiopen pic.twitter.com/bWs9SsjWlL

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 27, 2026

Lehka’s emotion on match point was in stark contrast to his previous performance in the Masters 1000 semifinals. In Madrid in 2024, the Czech was forced to retire due to a back injury after playing just six games in the last four games with Felix Auger-Aliassime. Nearly two years later, the 24-year-old reached the Miami final, having not lost a serve in five matches so far.

“It feels great. It’s definitely something I’ve been working on all year and all preseason,” Lehka said when asked about his hot form. “I really believe in my game and the work I put in. Time doesn’t matter, but I knew it was coming and today was a great example of how I want to play. I executed well, so I’m really happy with how I performed today.”

Lehka avenged last month’s quarter-final loss to Fiers in Doha with a commanding 75-minute victory and leveled the pair’s Lexus ATP head-to-head series at 2-2. The 24-year-old Czech also ensured that on Monday he will improve on his career-high ranking of 16th in the PIF ATP Rankings: Lehka is currently up eight spots to 14th in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will rise to 12th if he goes on to lift the trophy in South Florida.

“Of course, I’m happy to be in the finals. It’s definitely one of my goals,” Lehka said. “At the same time, I know it’s just a sport. There are bigger things going on in the world right now, so that’s definitely something I want to remind myself of. I’m just trying to do what I do best, and I absolutely love being on a court like this. So I’m trying to live in the moment, and we’ll see how it goes on Sunday.”

Lehecka took advantage of Fils’ slow start to take the lead inside Hard Rock Stadium. The Czech set the tone for the match when he broke serve in the first game. Fiers had little chance to resolve the issue as Lehka hit the ball cleanly from both wings and gave his opponent few chances on serve.

After Fiers broke serve for the second time to take the first set, Lehka was similarly dominant in the second. The Czech won six of the last seven games and converted four of the 10 break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP statistics.

Fiers was frustrated at times in the face of inspired performances from his opponents, but he struggled to bring out his best in his Masters 1000 semifinal debut. At times, the Frenchman also seemed to be feeling the physical effects of his marathon quarter-final victory over Tommy Paul, a match in which he saved four match points to win in the final set tie-break.

Lehka is the eighth Czech player in series history to reach the Masters 1000 final (since 1990). In Sunday’s final, he will emulate his compatriot Jakub Mensik, who beat Novak Djokovic to win the Miami title last year.