QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 22, 2023

Jiri Lehecka

Press Conference

J. LEHECKA/E. Ruusuvuori

6-2, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You're picking things up exactly the way you left them in Melbourne. Do you think you're riding the same wave, Davis Cup two wins, here you get two wins? Do you feel those matches show you have grown even more from what happened in Australia?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah. It's difficult to say, because if I compare Melbourne to Portugal to here, almost everywhere it's a bit different, you know. Of course conditions over here are much more similar to where I played in Melbourne, the weather, surface, everything, same balls, which also gives me a bit more confidence about the way how I want to play.

But honestly, I'm still looking and trying to find my best tennis which I played in Melbourne, because, of course, you know, the transition from Melbourne back to Europe on clay, from clay back to hard court wasn't really easy for me. So for me now every win is very important.

Beating Emil, who is a great hard court player, I lost against him twice in last half a year, you know, so it's very good win for me and I'm very happy.

Q. We see today you're playing the big points extremely well. Is it a special focus that you have in practice? Is it something that's gone better with the time passing on the tour?

JIRI LEHECKA: It's also a bit of confidence, you know, because more confident I am, you know, bigger shots I'm able to play. So for me, you know, to gain the confidence was also the key, you know, how to improve, let's say, the big-time tennis.

I'm very happy that we pushed through and also with some adjustments in my game, focusing more on serve, being more calm through the whole match. It also helps me to be more concentrated on the important points where, if I'm a bit lucky and I go for it, I'm able to produce some very good, like, shots, sometimes even the big points.

Q. How did it feel entering the court in Australia quarterfinals?

JIRI LEHECKA: How did it feel? Yeah, it felt amazing. I mean, honestly it was one of my dreams and, you know, of course when you're a little kid, that's the reason why you are playing tennis, to play on center court, Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, playing a seeded player, Stefanos, who is a great player, full crowd.

It can't get any better than this, I would say. For me of course it was a big motivation, and I don't want to say it was a pressure for me, because for me, the run was very good over there. Honestly I went there, and I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could. I tried to be myself on the court. I tried to play my best tennis.

Unfortunately I didn't get the win. Stefanos too good that day, but I think and I believe that I will play more of these matches on the biggest stages.

Q. Do you think that tournament has been a turning point in your career maybe to prove yourself that you can do that?

JIRI LEHECKA: I don't know if it was just like a turning point, but of course it was one of the turning points, because if I can say three turning points in my career, I would say the first one was winning my challenger title in Tampere, Finland. Second was coming into top 100 last year when I played semifinals in Rotterdam. And of course the third turning point, if I can say like this, was this year's Australian Open playing my first Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Even before I didn't win a match in a Grand Slam, so for me it was very emotional to play Grand Slam and be in the quarterfinals. Yeah, it's a big motivation to work harder and to prepare even more and play better tennis any time.

Q. After that, what is your main goal for the rest of the season?

JIRI LEHECKA: My season and my goal for the season was to go into top 50. That was the goal for the season. Of course I made it after two tournaments, so it went quite good at the moment.

But of course I don't like to have some like specific and like long-time goals. For me it's important to be able to work step by step by what I think that is important and to improve my ranking.

You know, someone told me, How does it feel to be Czech tennis player No. 1? I said that it feels okay, but I can be No. 1 also if I will be out of top 100. So for me, ranking is the most important thing. Of course my motivation and my goal for this year is to win an ATP title.

Q. How was important for you to play in the NextGen Finals in Milan, if you have any special memory from that tournament?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, it was very important for me, because it was one of the events where -- you know, it was one of the events where everyone showed you and everything looked like, you know, all the focus was on you, you know. You played on a great stadium, very nice arena, all the media attention, everything.

Let's say it soaked you into big tennis and it showed you how does it really feel to be the top tennis player. Of course, you know, with all the top eight guys, you know, over there, to be able to practice with them, chat, have some fun time, you know, and also be able to bring my team there, it helped a lot, you know, in a way where I just said, yeah, this is something what I really feel like I want to do for the rest of my life.

It was a big motivation. I played great tennis there. And after not really well ongoing hard court season after US Open last year, it brought me great confidence which I took also into Australia, and we saw how it went.

Q. You're a son of sportsman, your mother and your father are both sports people, but not in tennis. Why did you choose tennis?

JIRI LEHECKA: I mean, the thing is that where we live in a small village, we have tennis courts right in front of our house. So my grandmother, she was playing tennis professionally. Unfortunately, because of communism back in the time in Czech Republic, she wasn't able to play on the international scene, I would say.

But it kept something, you know, in our family that she knew how to play, you know. So then she and my grandfather and my mother with my dad, they showed me how to play. My older sister, she played. So for me, as a younger brother, the logical thing was to grab a racquet as well.

It was tennis where I chose to continue when I was around 12, you know, because until that time I did all the sports. I was doing everything I could: swimming, bike riding, running, athletics, everything.

So for me it was very easy to choose also, because when I was around 12, I start to go to Prostejov where I'm practicing and living right now where we had a great community of young tennis players. I started to love it there.

Q. Getting two wins here, does it still feel special for you, or is it starting to feel like business as usual, or that's good, but, hmm, that's really not enough?

JIRI LEHECKA: Of course I have goals every tournament where I go, so of course I know that for me this is another step, you know, forward.

But the great advantage, which I have, me and my team, what we have, is that we can point, we can see positive things in every win and also in every loss, you know, which helps us to learn faster from every situation we are in.

When I think about that, then here, for me these two wins today, when I speak only about the tennis way are, let's say, same important as first two rounds in Melbourne, you know, because totally different conditions, different players.

You know, now let's say in the first match, not today, but in the first match I went here on the court as a favorite, so it's changing, it's changing a lot, but of course me, the biggest goal is just to be happy from every win I'm able to have, yeah.