US OPEN

September 2, 2025

Jiri Lehecka

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/J. Lehecka

6-4, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just wondering what you feel like made the difference for you today and maybe, yeah, on serve especially for you?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, so I kind of feel that -- yeah, I'll just say I think that today I kind of met the Grand Slam version of Carlos. That's the way how I would like to think about it, because yeah, it's been difficult match.

We all know that he and Jannik, you know, right now and, of course, on Grand Slams definitely Novak. You know, these are the three guys that are hardest to beat, I would say.

Carlos, he just showed that he is one of the contenders for sure. Everyone knew that, and he proved that today as well, and the match was -- I don't really think that it was, like, bad performance from my side. I felt quite okay, but I think that the most important things which he needed to do, he did better than me.

I felt that against Carlos, if you want to beat him, you need to win at least few of the big points, and he won all of them, you know. Even when I played really good rally, even when I tried to put him under pressure, go to the net, change the rhythm, do something, he was there, and he had an answer for everything I tried.

Then, of course, I must say that he was serving better, and he was much more solid on return. He was very consistent on his return games, and he knew exactly what he wanted to play, the way how he wanted to play, and he was getting me under pressure a lot when I didn't serve well.

So yeah, I mean, if I want to beat a guy like him, then I really need to show my best at the big points, because every time I had a chance -- for example, in the second set when there was a close game when I had a chance to go at least for a break point, you know, there was a good rally. We played very good rally, but unfortunately, he was everywhere. He always managed to do something special.

So even although I didn't play bad, I played very good shot or something like that, he had the answer. Yeah, that was kind of demotivating sometimes.

Q. I just wanted to ask how difficult that is psychologically when you are playing well, you're doing the right things, presumably you're doing a lot of things you talked about before the match, and it's not working. How do you kind of process that?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, it's not easy to process. You know, it's like that you are going to the match with some kind of a plan, and I think that few times -- I mean, not all the time, but a few times I was really feeling good, you know, trying to do what I was supposed to do, but then if you do everything correctly and still you lose the important moments the way how I was losing them, then you know, I would say you are just bothered to clap for Carlos all the time when he is hitting a good shot, because for him it's a standard.

That's very difficult to play against, because I kind of felt that every time there was an important moment, even when I tried to do everything I could, he just increase his level. Like, he was a little bit faster. He anticipated a little bit better what I'm about to play, and he was there.

That was very tough for me to react on, because you know, it's not easy to play a match. You know, it was my first match in my life on Arthur Ashe, so in the beginning of the match, I must say I was a little bit nervous. I have played on Ashe a couple of times, but never with the fans. It was always just to practice.

So yeah, it's difficult to play against Carlos, you know, because I think that on Grand Slam stage when he knows that he has more sets to find his rhythm, he's a little bit more free the way how he plays. Even when I played good point, I was just not winning the points where I played good tennis, and that's not something I was used to see in the previous rounds for sure.

Q. Just curious about this run, like your second Grand Slam quarterfinal. What are you most satisfied about with the way you've kind of played over the past week?

JIRI LEHECKA: Yeah, thank you. I think that the fact that I'm most happy about is that in the first two matches I kind of came back into the match even when I was not feeling very good on court. I was not happy with my performance, but with the fight, with the fighting spirit, I came back, and I still managed to win.

Since that moment, I was just very happy with the consistency I showed here that I still needed to win four matches against tough opponents. Yeah, that's something I'm proud about. That even when I was, let's say, in the third round, I was the favorite to win, then I managed to fill these expectations. I managed to win in three sets, and I was focusing on the next match.

So I kind of felt that what I'm very happy about is the way that I played when I was the favorite, and at the same time the way how I was reacting in the moments when I was not feeling myself, because that's not something what I was doing correctly in the last, I don't know, two years ago, let's say.

I kind of learned how to do, how to react when things are not going my way, not to put myself under much pressure. I think that it helped me definitely, because then when we saw it today. When you play against Carlos and these kind of players, then you are under the pressure all the time. So there is no place for yourself getting yourself under more pressure than is necessary, yeah.