Unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka toppled sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(3) to succeed in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday, because the exit of one more large identify left the Grand Slam skinny on star energy for its second week.
With holder Rafa Nadal and second seed Casper Ruud going out early, and different title hopefuls comparable to Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev additionally exiting, a path was clearing for Auger-Aliassime to go deep at Melbourne Park.
However he bumped into an impressed Lehecka, who beat eleventh seed Cameron Norrie within the earlier spherical. The Czech will play both Stefanos Tsitsipas or Jannik Sinner for a spot within the semi-final and he mentioned he’s simply getting began.
“The run is just not over,” Lehecka mentioned. “All the blokes I’ve crushed listed here are unimaginable and I’ve performed my finest tennis to indicate all of the playing cards I’ve to beat them. It sounds loopy, however its true and I am completely satisfied to proceed the journey.”
Auger-Aliassime, 22, broke within the third sport on the way in which to taking the opening set in 35 minutes however an enormous momentum shift noticed unseeded Lehecka take management.
After profitable the second set to degree the match, a fragile volley on the web helped Lehecka maintain serve and arrange a third-set tiebreak the place he pounced on 2022 quarter-finalist Auger-Aliassime’s errors to maneuver forward.
With a primary Grand Slam quarter-final, and a primary win over a top-10 participant, in sight, the 21-year-old Lehecka went up one other gear within the fourth set tie-break to go up 6-3 earlier than sending Auger-Aliassime out with an outstanding passing shot.
“Truthfully it feels superb,” Lehecka added. “It is robust to seek out phrases due to what we have been via within the final yr and coming again after shedding the primary spherical (in 2022).
“If somebody informed me I might play like this I might not consider them.”