Jiri Lehecka fell just short of an unforgettable title at Queen’s, having lost in the final to Carlos Alcaraz.
Lehecka beat Jack Draper and his fellow Briton Jacob Fearnley at Queen’s, along with Alex de Minaur and Gabriel Diallo.
But Lehecka finally came undone against top seed Alcaraz in the final, where he was defeated 7-5, 6-7(5-7), 6-2.
Alcaraz was really fired up during the tie-break, before the Spaniard went on to lift the trophy at Queen’s for the second time in his career.
He now has five ATP titles for the season and 21 for his career, although remains behind Jannik Sinner in the world rankings.
Jiri Lehecka messages Carlos Alcaraz after Queen’s final loss
Lehecka meanwhile has risen five places to 25th after his superb run in London, with the Czech ace having sent his latest opponent a message after their exciting battle.
Sharing an image of his prize, he wrote on X: “Grateful, great week. Congrats Carlos Alcaraz well-deserved title. SW19 [soon].”
And his opponent was quick to respond, with Alcaraz replying to a similar post from Lehecka on Instagram saying: “Great week Jiri! All the Best in Wimbledon!”
SW19 represents the postal address of the Wimbledon area, with the grass court Grand Slam set to get underway later this month.
Is Jiri Lehecka among the players who can challenge Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon?
Lehecka continued his fantastic season at Queen’s, where only top seed Alcaraz was good enough to beat the 23-year-old two-time ATP champion.
He was chasing a second success of 2025 in London, having won the Brisbane International at the start of the year.
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But Lehecka will have little time to ponder what went wrong against Alcaraz, with Wimbledon rapidly approaching.
The Spaniard is the two-time defending champion at SW19, having defeated Novak Djokovic in the last two finals.
And given that record plus his current form, it would be very unwise to look beyond Alcaraz triumphing in London once more.
But perhaps Lehecka is among a small group capable of pushing the five-time Grand Slam champion all the way, along with the likes of world number one Sinner, home favourite Jack Draper and veteran Novak Djokovic.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 2019 | Novak Djokovic | Roger Federer | 7-6(7-5), 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 4-6, 13-12(7-3) |
| 2021 | Novak Djokovic | Matteo Berrettini | 6-7(4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2022 | Novak Djokovic | Nick Kyrgios | 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(7-3) |
| 2023 | Carlos Alcaraz | Novak Djokovic | 1-6, 7-6(8-6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 |
| 2024 | Carlos Alcaraz | Novak Djokovic | 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(7-4) |
The Serbian was the dominant figure at the All England Club before Alcaraz arrived onto the scene, having won the tournament on seven occasions.
Only legendary figure Roger Federer has more (eight), with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw joining Djokovic on seven.
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