During the season, Carlos Alcaraz made clear how much he enjoys golf. At the US Open, the Spaniard even tied an arc over his victories by shadows his golf swing.
But he is far from the only ATP Tour star who is interested in sport. In fact, his quarter-final opponent, Jiri Lehecka, went to golf last year.
“It is very important for players to have something outside the tennis court and outside the environment,” Lehecka told Atptour.com. “So if I have a chance, I like to play golf. Many players like that. It’s fun, you are in cool nature, the jobs are fun.”
When Lehecka is home again and has a free afternoon, he will put on a golf channel and view the promotion. The Czech is a fan of Bryson Dechambeau and was “very happy” when Rory McIlroy won the Masters. However, his game cannot be used up with the most experienced golfers among his colleague tennis players.
“I am very, very bad. For me, the biggest challenge is still to make the ball fly straight, so I am focusing on that,” said Lehecka. “But in the same way as in tennis, I love the way I feel in myself that I am improving in some things, and I don’t really have to be very emotional about it because it is just fun and I am not a professional in that sport. It is relaxing and at the same time an extra motivation and I like to watch TV.”
One day, Lehecka Instagram scrolled when he saw a recent answer from the press conference that gave Scheffler in which the American discussed what fulfills him most. Winning means a lot for him because of everything he has done to become as good as he is in sport. But in the end Scheffler was fulfilled more by supporting his family than lifting trophies.
“It is so interesting to hear. And I think he is right because he is in the [prime] From his career where he already has a child. He most likely sees the career and the sport a bit different in itself, “said Lehecka.” I also think that something is that I resonate pretty well when I’m on the field, I play and it’s not going well. It sometimes happens.
“It’s just something that I try to repeat for myself: that it’s just a sport. It’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t go in the right direction.”
At the same time, Lehecka believes that this does not only apply when things are not going well. It is a consistent mentality that he would like to keep.
“If I play very, very well and I win matches, I also try to say these things to myself,” said Lehecka. “In the end it’s just something that we all do. It’s something we all love, that’s for sure. But there are more important things than sport in the world. I think we will all agree, and I like it that he said it out loud.”
An important part of his life is his girlfriend, Lucie Neumannova, who grew up tennis and is now an athletics athlete, who often encourages Lehecka to stay on top of his sleep and recovery.
“She knows everything about the sport and at the same time, while she followed immediately afterwards, it is such an inspiration to see the other approaches of different sports,” said Lehecka. “And to see that she can also understand what is really needed to work hard, to go to sleep early. Sometimes it is funny that she pushes me a bit to do things better than I do.”
On the field, Lehecka is preparing for his second big quarter final after he went to the last eight on the Australian Open 2023, when he was the number 71 player in the PIF ATP ranking. According to his old coach, Michal Navratil, the Czech, on a career-high world no. 21, is not only physically improved only since that run.
“Jiri was always the man who had a solid technique, I would say. Nice strikes. The power was always in him,” said Navratil. “But we were especially struggling with mental strength or perhaps not even mental, but experience.”
Lehecka will have to use everything he has learned when he faces 2022 champion Alcaraz on Tuesday. Alcaraz leads Lehecka 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2head series, but the 23-year-old Czech will take faith earlier this year from his victory against the Spaniard in Doha.
“Jiri is dangerous and these matches that he of course already played with Carlos can help him for the game,” said Navratil, who added that the more Lehecka competes against the best players, he is not as anxious when he plays them.
“This is also the most important thing, because if you have great respect, then of course it is difficult to manage it. But if you understand that these guys are playable and you can do it, then it is easier, because, because, [as] I tried to explain to him, everyone is defeated. ”
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