Two years after retiring in tears in Madrid, Lehecka crushes Fils to reach his first Masters final
Jiri Lehecka is in his first Masters final. Two years after retiring in tears from Madrid, the Czech was immaculate – crushing Fils 6-2, 6-2 without losing a single service game across the entire tournament. The transformation is complete.
Jiri Lehecka, Miami 2026 | © PsNewz
Czech seed No. 21 Jiri Lehecka defeated Frenchman seed No. 28 Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Miami Open on Friday to reach his first Masters 1000 final – two years after being forced to retire from his first Masters semi-final in Madrid with an injury that ended his day in tears.
The performance was flawless. Lehecka broke Fils in the first, fourth, sixth and eighth games, never lost his serve across the entire match and became the first man to reach a Masters final without dropping a service game since Novak Djokovic in 2018. Across five matches in Miami, he has not been broken once.
Fils, by contrast, unravelled. He accumulated 19 unforced errors and three double faults, and threw his racquet repeatedly from the moment the first break landed in the second set. The composure and aggression that had defined his week – including a famous four-match-point comeback against Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals – were nowhere to be found. Lehecka gave him nothing to work with and took everything on offer.
One year after compatriot Jakub Mensik lifted the trophy in Miami, Lehecka will contest the final, the biggest match of his career. He will face the winner of the semi-final between German seed No. 3 Alexander Zverev and Italian seed No. 2 Jannik Sinner.
Fil’s run confirmed that the 21-year-old’s return from a long injury absence is tracking in the right direction. A first Masters semi-final, reached without dropping serve for the entire fortnight, is no small thing – even if Friday’s final step proved one too many. He reached the semi-finals after beating American seed No. 22 Tommy Paul 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-6(6), Monégasque seed No. 24 Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 6-1 and American Darwin Blanch 6-2, 6-3. One month after a final in Doha.
