Jiří Lehečka is one of the greatest Czech hopes
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It will take time, but Czech tennis can at least see a glimmer of hope that the famous Davis Cup times with Berdych and Štěpánek will return to some extent. Although the current situation and the view of the rankings do not suggest this.
The Czech number one and 66th player in the world, Jiří Veselý, alternates very decent performances with losers, according to the ranking, the second best Lukáš Rosol at the age of 35 and from the 186th place can hardly think of any greater progress.
| The best Czech tennis players | ||
| On the ladder | Name | Age |
| 66. | Jiří Veselý | 27 let |
| 186. | Lukáš Rosol | 35 let |
| 213. | Tomáš Macháč | 20 let |
| 228. | Zdeněk Kolář | 24 let |
| 304. | Michael Vrbenský | 20 let |
Who’s next? Tomáš Macháč, Michael Vrbenský, Jiří Lehečka and Jonáš Forejtek are experiencing an excellent season, which was really broken by the global pandemic. In addition to very promising results, all four are connected by one fact – their age is between eighteen and twenty years. Daviscup captain Jaroslav Navrátil also knows what potential lies in Czech youth.
“He moves well, he has a fantastic two-handed backhand, probably the best of these young boys. He also got quite tired of serving with his new coach Dan Vacek,” an experienced coach said about Tomáš Macháč some time ago.
I am proud of myself, said Macháč after the battle of life. He also thanked Kvitová and Vondroušová
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The Beroun native subsequently confirmed his words when, for the first time in his life, he made it to the main competition of the Grand Slam French Open and shot up by about 250 places in five months. At the moment, he is the third best Czech player in the ranking, when he holds the 213th position.
Great Leheček’s season
Jiří Lehečka recorded even greater progress. The 18-year-old, who currently ranks 353rd, was still a 63rd player in March. “He worked on the forehand and the volley. Malinko lacks patience in important states. He wants to kill it quickly and makes a mistake. But he works hard and has improved tremendously in three years,” Navrátil is clear.
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Tomáš Macháč in the first round of the French Open
Michel Euler, ČTK / AP
Nineteen-year-old Jonáš Forejtek once again dominated last year’s junior at the US Open, adding two more grand slam junior doubles titles from the Australian Open with Dalibor Svrčina and Wimbledon with Jiří Lehečka in the same year. He rose 140 places to 398th place this season.
Vrbenský dominated in Liberec and thwarted Forejtek’s hat-trick
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The reasons for optimism are evoked by looking at the ranking of players under 19 years of age. Among the top fourteen are three Czech names, no other country is better in this respect. Sixth place belongs to Jiří Leheček, thirteenth to Andrew Paulson, fourteenth to Dalibor Svrčin.
“These guys are on their toes. If they avoid injuries and work, the future can be bright,” said Jaroslav Navrátil.
| Number of tennis players up to 19 years by nationality (up to 15th place) | ||
| Location | Earth | Number of representatives |
| 1. | Czechia (Lehečka, Paulson, Svrčina) | 3 |
| Italy | 3 | |
| 3. | Spain | 2 |
| 4. | United Kingdom | 1 |
| Argentina | 1 | |
| France | 1 | |
| Romania | 1 | |
| Denmark | 1 | |
| USA | 1 | |
| Japan | 1 | |
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