match report
Lehka thwarts home hope Fritz in third set at Miami Masters
Czech Republic to face #NextGenATP Spaniard Martin Landalus in QF
March 24, 2026
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Jiri Lehecka takes on Taylor Fritz on Tuesday in Miami.
Andy West
Jiri Lehecka crushed the home party with a stunning performance at the Miami Open hosted by Itau on Tuesday afternoon.
The 21st-seeded Czech faced American No. 1 Taylor Fritz at the ATP Masters 1000 event, winning 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 to seal a spot in the quarterfinals. According to TDI Insights, Lehka bounced back from the disappointment of losing the second set tiebreaker to post an overall performance rating of 9.53 in the third set (up from 6.98 in the second set and well above the tour average of 7.29).
There’s ice in his veins 🧊@jirilehecka Reset eliminated sixth seed Fritz and entered the Masters 1000m quarterfinals for the third time! @miamiopen | #miamiopen pic.twitter.com/ATFgxhHI9J
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 24, 2026
“I think the goal for me is to stay aggressive,” said Lehka, who reached the red line in five of the final six games of the game. “I think in the second set, I kind of backed off a little bit. Finally, I just felt like in the third set, if I wanted to beat a guy like Taylor, I just had to go all out and be aggressive. I needed to show the grit that I wanted to win this point. That’s what I tried to do, and it worked well.”
With a victory that lasted two hours and 20 minutes inside Hard Rock Stadium, Lehka became the third Czech player to reach the quarterfinals of a Sunshine Doubles event (Indian Wells and Miami), following top ten stars Peter Korda and Tomas Berdych. This is his first Masters 1000m quarter-final since the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open, where he will face Martin Landalus. #NextGenATP The Spaniard earlier defeated Sebastian Korda 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.
“I’m very happy about it. I always felt like since Madrid I needed to take another step to go further in the Masters 1000,” Lehka said after reaching the quarterfinals. “It’s great to be back in Miami. It’s great to be playing well. I didn’t feel great in Indian Wells, so the first week in Miami, during the practice week, I worked really hard to come back and find my game again. I’m glad I did that.
“I’m happy to win three games in a row and the third one is against a guy like Taylor. A top-10 player, he’s experienced. He’s played a lot of these games, so for me it’s pretty good.”
Thanks to his performance so far in Miami, Lehka has moved up four spots to No. 18 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. After earning his first top-10 win of 2026 against world No. 7 Fritz, the 24-year-old Czech also improved his record to 2-4 in the Lexus ATP head-to-head series against the American.
