Jiri Lehecka beats Marcos Giron, books final spot in Antwerp | ATP Tour

Lehecka shuts down Giron’s surge, books final spot in Antwerp

Czech will meet resurgent Bautista Agut in championship match

October 19, 2024

Faced with a dialled-in opponent and with a final spot on the line, Jiri Lehecka opted for all-out attack on Saturday night at the European Open.

The fifth-seeded Czech was rewarded for his courage with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 semi-final triumph against Marcos Giron at the indoor hard-court ATP 250. Lehecka responded emphatically to a mid-match surge from Giron by breaking the American’s serve twice in the deciding set en route to a one-hour, 57-minute victory.

“All the best to Marcos, he played incredible tennis, especially in the second set,” said Lehecka in his on-court interview. “A few times I was speechless with what he was able to produce, so I’m very happy with the win, so happy to be through and today it was a hard-fought battle.

“After the second set, when I thought I wasn’t playing bad but he was just playing incredible from the back of the baseline, I knew I had to use every chance I had to push forward and to be aggressive. His second serve was the only chance I had to do it, so I tried to use that and it worked well.”

Lehecka converted three of six break points he earned against Giron, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to book his spot in his third tour-level championship match. The Adelaide champion is the first Czech to reach an indoor ATP Tour final since his former coach Tomas Berdych won the Stockholm title in 2015.

A familiar face will await Lehecka in Sunday’s final: Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard earlier eased past Hugo Gaston 6-3, 6-4 to reach is 23rd tour-level title match, and his first since he reached a final in Adelaide in January 2023. Bautista Agut notched a break in each set to halt the inspired run of Gaston, who had downed second seed Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals.

“My last final was in Adelaide last year and it means a lot to me to be in [another] final,” said Bautista Agut, who has risen 12 spots to No. 48 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run in Belgium so far. “I’ve been working very hard after the injury and to enjoy on the court, like I have this week. It’s why I love tennis and why I keep practising very hard. I’m very happy.”

The Spaniard will step on court against Lehecka with a 3-1 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The pair has split two meetings in the past six weeks, with Bautista Agut beating Lehecka at September’s Davis Cup Finals Group Stage, and Lehecka later prevailing in a second-round clash in Beijing.