HSBC CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 21, 2025

Jiri Lehecka

Queens Club

Press Conference

J. LEHECKA/J. Draper

6-4, 4-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: First of all, congrats. This is your first ATP 500 final here at Queen's. How do you feel about your performance this week?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, thank you. I feel pretty good. It's been a good week for me so far. Today very tough match.

Yeah, it feels great to be in a final here, Queen's. You know, great atmosphere, great conditions. So, yeah, very looking forward to it.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How nice is it to be back on grass after missing last year's this bit of the season due to injury?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, I must say it's very good. I'm very happy that I'm back on grass. Last year it was not easy time for me, needing to withdraw from all the tournaments on grass.

That's the part of the season I'm always looking very forward to. You know, it's a great part of the year. It's too short, in my opinion. Should be a bit longer (smiling).

Yeah, it makes it even more special. It was painful for me that last year I wasn't able to play. So this year I came on grass even more motivated than before, and yeah, so far I'm feeling good on grass, yeah.

Q. Jiri, just saying it was a tough match, and it was obviously a tough match, but can you just talk about that aspect of it and having to also deal with the crowd, which was obviously so much for Draper? It's not something you wouldn't expect. You would expect something like that. But dealing with having to come up against that sort of aspect.

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah. I mean, I knew since the beginning that it would be very big challenge for me to beat Jack on his home soil here in London. But at the same time, you know, I think that the audience today, they were very fair.

I must say that of course they were cheering a lot for Jack. They were supporting him through the whole match. But at the same time, I kind of felt like they recognized when I hit a good ball, you know. They were very fair, in my opinion.

At the same time, I mean, I played in much more hostile environments before. I played against Rafa in Madrid when it was his last dance there in Madrid. So there was, I must say, very, very great atmosphere. It was something I have never seen before.

So since that moment, every time I play against a player who is playing at home and is supported by the crowd, I'm just trying to relax. You know, I mean, it's something I should have expect, and I did that.

Yeah, I think that the crowd was very fair, and I enjoyed to play in front of Queen's fans, all true that it was against home favorite.

Q. Why do you think the grass suits your game so well? Did you realize that you love this surface like the very first time that you played on it?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah. I mean, the thing is that of course every time you start to play on grass, you kind of need to learn, you know, a few aspects of the game. You need to adapt mostly on movement on it, because it's not that easy, you know, just to -- it's not easy to adjust. You can't sort of slide that much. You need to think about every other step. The pace of the game is a bit faster. The ball is coming to you in a different speed.

So at that moment, I just knew that I really need to adapt to these things first, and then I knew, and, you know, it's my game style, and I think that my game style suits me well here on grass.

I'm trying to serve well, I'm trying to use my return, take an early advantage. Every ball I have a chance to go through, I go through it.

Yeah, of course every year you kind of need to repeat these things. You need to practice these things since the first moment you step on grass, and together with my game, I think it's a good combination. So far it's going good.

Q. It will have to go good again tomorrow, Carlos just winning. Your thoughts on playing Carlos.

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, honestly, I mean, it's one of the biggest challenges in our sport at the time. So I'm super, super excited about playing Carlos in a final. He's a great competitor. He's played so many finals like that already. He's a Grand Slam champion.

So of course it's going to be a great challenge. He's going to be the favorite. So I will just try to stick to my game. Last time I played against him, you know, in Doha, I beat him, so I will just try to rethink that match again. I will just try to also see that match, see what I was doing well or not. And we will see how it goes.

I mean, important thing is that this is grass. It's not hard court, is the last time we played each other. So the tennis can be absolutely different. The style can be something else.

But the most important thing for me is that I will try to stick to my game. I will try to stick to the things which worked for me this week so far. Yeah, we will see how it goes.

So far final is good result. But definitely I will try to do my best, and I'm very motivated for taking the title.

Q. Do you watch the rankings at all? Because by getting to the final, you're just going to be short of your career best. I think you move to 25 by getting to the final. Your career best was 22.

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, honestly, every time I'm at a tournament, I don't really watch ranking. It's like something -- I always watch these kind of things after I'm finished with the tournament.

So, yeah, I mean, I kind of believe into my game and into myself that if I'm really doing well and if I do the right things on court, the points and the ranking will improve. So, yeah, again, it's a nice step forward, and we will see how it goes. Is definitely something I'm working on, you know, to improve my ranking, as well. But the most important thing for me is just to focus on the game.

If I'm doing everything correctly, then I'm really positive about the thing that the ranking will also improve.