Will the Czech youngster also pose a threat to Tsitsipas?

There was no lack of surprises in this year’s men’s singles at the Australian Open. With Rafael Nadal, Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud and German hope Alexander Zverev, many highly rated top players had to pull out early. Apart from top favourite Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas also has promising prospects of winning his first Grand Slam title.

The Greek is playing an impeccable 2023 tennis year so far and has won all of his eight singles matches. On Monday night, the number three seed will have the chance to reach the final round of the Happy Slam Down Under for the fourth time in his career. The prerequisite for this is that a tip on the favourite pays off in the quarter-final between Tsitsipas and Lehecka.

However, the Czech surprise man will fight back with all his might. For the first time ever, the 21-year-old has made it to the second week of a Grand Slam. On his way to the last eight, the world number 59 has already eliminated well-known opponents.

The youngster has nothing at all to lose and will leave his heart on the centre court. The man who reached the final of the Next Gen ATP Finals a few months ago should by no means be underestimated, which is why we are not at all averse to predicting a close match before the Tsitsipas vs. Lechecka match.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Statistics & current form

Although Stefanos Tsitsipas, at 24, still belongs to the younger generation in the ATP world elite, the Greek has already achieved a lot in his career. The right-hander has already won a total of nine titles. Among other things, he won the ATP Finals in 2019, which are often referred to as the unofficial world championships. Stef also has major successes on his CV. The only thing he is still waiting for is a Grand Slam triumph.

That could now change at the other end of the world. Among the eight remaining quarter-finalists, Tsitsipas is indeed the best-seeded player. Behind Novak Djokovic, the young man from Athens, who is coached by his father, is considered to have the best chance of winning the tournament at the Australian Open 2023.

Tsitsipas has never lost an AO quarter-final

On the one hand, this assessment is certainly based on the fact that Tsitsipas can only meet the Djoker in the final at the earliest. On the other hand, the 1.93m tall Greek, who reached the final of the French Open in 2021, has made a very concentrated impression so far.

After three commanding three-set wins over Halys, Hinjikata and Griekspoor, the world number four needed five sets against Janik Sinner in the last 16 to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time Down Under. In the three previous attempts, the 24-year-old also always made it to the semi-finals, but never went further.

The five-set thriller against Sinner took a lot of energy

Despite the very decent performances so far at the first Grand Slam of the year and the fact that Tsitsipas also won all the singles matches for his Greek team at the United Cup, it should not be neglected that the crowd favourite, who can generate a lot of pressure with his one-handed backhand, can sometimes have fluctuations in his matches. Especially when it goes over a longer distance.

Against Sinner, Stef almost squandered a two-set lead and in two of the other three matches, the title contender had to go into a tie-break at least once. With this in mind, we think that between Tsitsipas and Lehecka, the odds on the games handicap (+6.5) in favour of the underdog definitely contain value.

Jiri Lehecka – Statistics & current form

Jiri Lehecka is currently writing his own personal tennis fairytale. Before the Australian Open, the 21-year-old Czech had never won a singles match at a Grand Slam tournament. In all four GS participations last year, the man from Mlada Boleslav failed at the opening hurdle. With a 3-0 win over Borna Coric in round one, at least this spell was broken early.

But it was not to be expected that the world number 59 would actually make it to the second week and even to the quarter-finals. Thanks to impressive wins against service monster Chris Eubanks (in four sets) and eleventh seed Cameron Norrie (in five sets), the youngster earned himself a spectacular duel against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Many net attacks as an unorthodox weapon?

The Canadian, however, could only take the first set from him. After that, the Czech won three straight sets and thus goes into the biggest match of his still young career with great self-confidence. Lehecka made 83% of all points after the first serve. The right-hander, who is also a good doubles player, went to the net 41 times and was successful 80% of the time.

If the youngster, who was also among the top ten in the world during his junior career and only lost the final to Brandon Nakashima at last year’s Next Gen Finals, can continue his performance, he will make life difficult for his favoured opponent in individual phases of the match. The odds are therefore also exciting between Tsitsipas and Lehecka that there will be at least one tiebreak in the course of the match or that the underdog will even win a set.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Jiri Lehecka Direct comparison / H2H balance

Just over a year ago, the two professionals faced each other for the first time on the ATP Tour. Their paths crossed in the semi-finals in Rotterdam. Tsitsipas prevailed in three sets, but had more trouble than expected on hard court indoors. In the end, however, it was the more consistent first and second serve that tipped the scales in the Greek’s favour. There have been no further duels yet.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Jiri Lehecka Tip

Stefanos Tsitsipas has mourned many missed chances at Grand Slam tournaments in his career. The next opportunity to hit the big time is now in Down Wunder. On paper, at least his task in the quarter-finals should be a formality. Between Tsitsipas and Lehecka, the betting odds for the favourite to win are just 1.15 at the top. The starting position is therefore clear.

However, the 21-year-old Czech should not be underestimated. The world number 59 played himself into a real frenzy in Australia and eliminated two Top 20 players, Auger-Aliassime and Norrie, from the tournament. With a broad chest and a lot of courage, the underdog now goes into what is surely the biggest match of his career so far on centre court in Melbourne, where once again many Greek fans will be in attendance.

Although in fact everything speaks against the Czech, we try it between Tsitsipas and Lehecka with the tip on the Games-Handicap (+6,5) in favour of the surprise of this tournament. We are referring to Lechecka’s unorthodox and net-heavy game as well as the fact that the only direct duel so far went the full distance.