23-Year-Old Tennis Player Puts a Mark on a Personal Head-to-Head in Davis Cup Qualifying

Czechia’s highest-ranked player, Jiri Lehecka, played his second match against the USA’s Taylor Fritz in the two countries' continued Davis Cup second-round qualifying match, hosted in Delray Beach, Florida, making this home court for the US team. Fritz is also the United States’ highest-ranked player among those brought in. The rounds are overall formatted as best of five, with each team needing to win three matches first, much like the best-of-five set protocol in a grand slam. The two have faced off many times before this matchup, and Fritz leads the head-to-head, four wins to zero losses. His most recent victory was just in August at the Rogers Cup in Canada, where he posted an incredibly competitive win at 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. It’s a slightly surprising thing that Fritz fell here in the Czech with a home-court advantage, but there are quite a few factors that could have contributed to it.

Similarities, Singularities, and Stressors

The biggest thing, of course, is the venue. This is the Davis Cup Qualifying Round, the second round at that. Team USA was up two to one on Czechia, and it was Fritz’s job and hope, I’d assume, to beat Lehecka and close out the tie to secure his country's place in the next round. There’s undoubtedly the pressure of his country’s, coach’s, and team’s expectations on his shoulders, things that were not present the last time he faced Lehecka a few weeks ago.

Fritz and Lehecka are both on the tall side; the American standing taller at six foot four and his opponent a few inches less at six foot one. I believe that contributed greatly towards Lehecka’s more sprightly movement compared to Fritz’s, and that’s not just in mere court coverage, but in racquet swings and reaction times too. In fact, Fritz’s lumbering swings and chases were really prevalent in this match, more than usual; he was simply too slow in everything, and it made an already quick Lehecka look all the quicker. The same Lehecka, who played the smartest, most profitable game for himself he could, especially in the first set. He wielded his serve like a wicked weapon, somehow more effectively than Fritz, despite the American having four inches of height advantage. Lehecka’s use of serve and volley was particularly devastating, as his anticipation of Fritz’s huge shots and attempts for winners helped him greatly. Other similarities the two shared throughout the match to the end were just close stats overall. Both giants showed their service expertise, 13 aces each. At the velocity they’re both punishing the balls at, it’s understandable that a few would be missed, and that number is close as well; Fritz at four double faults and Lehecka at five.

Weapons and Weaknesses

While I have listed many of their similarities and the sensibilities behind some of the match’s occurrences, some of the key factors that turned the match into the outcome it did must be named. Lehecka’s agility and serves have been mentioned, but his groundstrokes and patience, especially the depth of his strokes, are what I believe shook Fritz more than he could handle. His shots were at the baseline consistently; even service returns caught Fritz behind the ankles, which up his frustration and shortened his patience early in the match. I see that as what drove him to take those large, lumbering swings and avoid rallies in the first set, which he lost. Fritz had to change strategies and actually play the game, work for his points to win the second, but the deep groundstrokes from his opponent unbalanced him badly.

The American’s own weapons, of course, are his huge first serves, which Lehecka had to hold on for dear life even to bring back, but they hardly ever left him in a good position. His forehand, when he gets in position or takes a ball short and early, is more often than not unanswerable. Lehecka’s speed and sense did not afford him that luxury as much as usual, though, but he still got quite a few winners at 37...though Lehecka walked away with 42. Lehecka ultimately won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, the first time in the two’s last two meetups that there were no tiebreaks in any of the sets. His win over Fritz ties the countries at two, and the next match between American Frances Tiafoe and Czech Jakub Mensik will decide which of the two countries moves forward.