Czech Jiri Lehecka dominated France’s Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 on Friday to attain the males’s last at the ATP and WTA Miami Open.
Fils, the twenty eighth seed, had not dropped his serve in the event but was damaged 4 occasions by Twenty first-seeded Lehecka, who superior after 75 minutes at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
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“It feels great. It’s definitely something I’ve been working towards the whole year and the whole pre-season,” Lehecka said.
“I really trusted my game and the work I put in. It didn’t matter when, but I knew it would come and today was a nice example of how I want to play. I executed it well so I’m very happy with today’s performance.”
Lehecka will play in Sunday’s championship match against the winner of a later semi-final between world quantity two Jannik Sinner of Italy and fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev of Germany.
Sinner is attempting to become the first man to full the “Sunshine Double” by profitable titles at Indian Wells and Miami since Roger Federer in 2017.
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Also making an attempt to full the “Sunshine Double” is world quantity one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who performs in Saturday’s WTA last against fourth-seeded American Coco Gauff.
Lehecka did not face a break level and broke Fils for the first time in the event in the opening recreation of the match when the Frenchman netted a forehand.
He broke Fils again for a 5-2 lead on a netted Fils backhand.
Lehecka broke Fils early in the second set and again on a backhand cross court service return winner for a 5-2 lead, then held serve for the triumph, leveling his profession mark against Fils at 2-2.
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– Career-high rating –
The Czech is assured of a career-high rating next week. His best spot has been sixteenth but he is assured of leaping eight locations to 14th in the rankings and with a title would leap to twelfth.
Lehecka, 24, seeks his third ATP title after Adelaide in 2024 and Brisbane in 2025. It’s the eighth profession last for the Czech but his first at the elite Masters 1000 degree.
“I’m very excited that I’m in a final. It was definitely one of my goals,” Lehecka said. “I’m just trying to do what I do best, and I definitely enjoy being on a court like this. So I’m trying to live in the present and we will see how it goes on Sunday.”
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Fils injured his back at last 12 months’s French Open and returned only last month, when he was a runner-up at Doha and beat Lehecka in a quarter-final.
It was the first Masters 1000-level semi-final for Fils and just the second for Lehecka after 2024 at Madrid, when he retired due to a back damage that sidelined him for more than three months.
Lehecka is winless in three matches against Sinner without taking a set and 1-1 against Zverev.
Sinner hopes to attain the last and proceed his streak of 30 consecutive units won at the Masters 1000 degree.
Sinner leads the profession rivalry with Zverev 7-4 and owns a six-match win streak over Zverev, who last beat the Italian in 2023. Sinner’s run consists of a victory over the German two weeks in the past in the Indian Wells semifinals.
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