Jiri Lehecka came up short in his first match at this year’s Davis Cup Finals…
Team Czechia had one foot in the semifinals after Jakub Mensik beat Pablo Carreno Busta in the opening match of the day.
Lehecka had a chance to secure their place in the last four, but couldn’t get the job done, as he lost to Jaume Munar in straight sets, 3-6, 4-6.
During his post-match press conference, Lehecka flagged an issue with the courts that he believes may have contributed to his defeat.
Jiri Lehecka says the conditions on the Davis Cup centre court are different from the practice courts
Lehecka made it clear that he wasn’t trying to find excuses, but highlighted what he noticed about the court conditions in Bologna.
“I mean, I don’t want to sound like I’m excusing my game to the conditions. That’s definitely not the case. Today I was not the better player. That’s the reason why I lost. He was playing very well. That’s what I wanted to say,” said Lehecka.
“Court-wise, my personal feeling is that the center court is a little bit faster and the bounces are lower, much lower, than on the practice courts.
“Then, in some details, it can bother you a bit. I didn’t really feel well on return. I think there were more mistakes than I wanted.”
Lehecka believes the center court in Bologna is faster than the practice courts, which he has been training on this week.
The 24-year-old knows that wasn’t the only reason he lost out, however, as he spoke about the Spaniard’s impressive serving performance.
“Other than that, Jaume [Munar], he was playing very well. I think he brought the level he wanted to bring. He was serving pretty well,” said Lehecka.
“I kind of felt that in today’s match, I would have good pressure from his second serve. I kind of felt that difference.
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“When he was serving second serve, I felt that in these moments I had a chance to kind of push through and to get him under pressure. But as he was serving pretty well his first serve, he didn’t really give me many chances to put him under pressure.
“So together with me not really playing well in the first set or in the beginning of the match, yeah, that’s probably the result. That’s probably what we saw.”
Munar’s win saw Spain level the tie at 1-1, but did Czechia manage to fight back in the deciding doubles?
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Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez took on Mensik and Tomas Machac for a place in the Davis Cup semifinals.
The Spaniards were behind 4-1 in the first set tiebreak, but fought back brilliantly to take a 1-0 lead in Bologna.
Nothing was separating the two teams in the second set either, as again, a tiebreaker was required.
Picking up the win 7-6 [8-6], 7-6 [8-6], Granollers and Martinez sent Spain back into the last four of the Davis Cup.
Having trailed 1-0 earlier in the day, Spain fought back to set up a semifinal clash with either Germany or Argentina.
Spain vs Czechia – 2025 Davis Cup QF
| Match | Winner | Loser | Score |
| 1 | Jakub Mensik (Czechia) | Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain) | Czechia (1-0) Spain |
| 2 | Jaume Munar (Spain) | Jiri Lehecka (Czechia) | Czechia (1-1) Spain |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez/Marcel Granollers (Spain) | Jakub Mensik/Tomas Machac (Czechia) | Czechia (1-2) Spain |
Watching his teammates advance to the semifinals on TV, Carlos Alcaraz posted his reaction to social media.
“Vamos,” he said.
Alcaraz won’t be joining his team in Bologna, having picked up an injury during last week’s ATP Finals.
However, it doesn’t look like Spain are doing too badly without him, as they now stand just two rounds away from their first title since 2019.
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Only time will tell if Spain can go all the way in Bologna, but it will definitely be worth tuning in for.
Spain will play Germany or Argentina in the semifinals of the 2025 Davis Cup on Saturday, November 22.
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