Jiri Lehecka stuns Auger-Aliassime for spot in quarter-finals

After losing his Grand Slam debut at all four majors in 2022, Czech Jiri Lehecka has entered the 2023 season on a mission to prove himself.

He did it again on Sunday night in Melbourne, edging out Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 6 seed, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) to move into the last eight of the Australian Open.

Lehecka, ranked No 71, will look to continue his dream run in the quarter-finals, when he meets either Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the highest seed remaining in the draw, or Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 15 seed, in the last eight.

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Tennis Majors

Lehecka has engineered a series of upsets to reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne. He entered the 2023 season with one top-25 win to his name and has already notched four, including three in his four matches in Melbourne.

The 21-year-old Czech defeated Croat Borna Coric, the No 21 seed (6-3, 6-3, 6-3), American wildcard Christopher Eubanks (6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3) and No 11 seed Cameron Norrie (6-7 (8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4) in the previous rounds.

Earlier in the tournament, Auger-Aliassime, ranked No 7, won against Vasek Pospisil (1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3), Slovak Alex Molcan (3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 28 seed (6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4).

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 24.297.942, most recent results first):

• Alex De Minaur vs. Novak Djokovic
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Tommy Paul
• Andrey Rublev vs. Holger Rune
• Ben Shelton vs. J.J. Wolf
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jannik Sinner
• Karen Khachanov (18) beat Yoshihito Nishioka (31): 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (4)
• Sebastian Korda (29) beat Hubert Hurkacz (10): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7)

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Adelaide, Australian Open, Berdych: Everything you always wanted to know about Jiri Lehecka (but never had time to find out) – updated after reaching Queen’s final

Tennis Majors