ATP Tour

Lehecka silences Draper, Queen's Club crowd to reach first grass final

Jiri Lehecka reached his first grass-court final Saturday at the HSBC Championships, where he put an end to British No. 1 Jack Draper’s quest on home soil.

The 23-year-old Lehecka weathered a passionate west London crowd and an inspired fightback from Draper to triumph 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. After dropping his first set of the week at the ATP 500 at Queen’s Club, Lehecka dug into a nervy deciding-set tussle before powering into the fifth and biggest final of his career.

“It means a lot, you don’t beat a player like Jack every day,” said Lehecka. “I want to say thanks to [the crowd] for making it fair. I know your favourite didn’t win today, but I really appreciate you being fair and clapping when I hit a few good [shots].”

Lehecka is in dreamland 🇨🇿@jirilehecka prevails past Draper 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to become the 2nd Czech finalist in the Open Era@QueensTennis | #HSBCChampionships pic.twitter.com/3N7oJ9Hrio

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 21, 2025

With his two-hour, seven-minute victory, Lehecka is the first Czech man to reach a tour-level final on grass since Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010. He faces top seed and former Queen’s champion Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s final.

The second-seeded Draper was aiming to join record five-time champion Andy Murray as the only British male singles winners at the event, but he was unable to draw on his explosive arsenal. The 23-year-old will, however, return to a career-high No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday, having secured a Top 4 seeding at Wimbledon.

“I've really felt the home support all week, it’s a real advantage and it helps drive me on,” said Draper. “But at the same time, I’ve got a job to do and I’m not thinking about pressures like that. I’m going to go into Wimbledon feeling great about myself, and I’ll go in at a position I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little kid.”

With famous rockstar and tennis enthusiast Jon Bon Jovi watching on, Lehecka produced a lights-out opener on Andy Murray Arena, during which he dropped just two of 16 first-serve points and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Roared on by the British crowd, however, Draper raised his level across the next two sets. Yet Lehecka regrouped with the consistent form that he has displayed all week to record his second Top 10 win of the season and level his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Draper at 2-2.

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Lehecka, who earned his 100th tour-level victory by defeating Briton Jacob Fearnley in the quarter-finals, missed last year's grass swing due to a back injury. Yet the Czech has done nothing but emphasise his potential on the surface since returning this year.

After reaching the quarter-finals in Stuttgart last week, Lehecka became the only semi-finalist at Queen's not to have dropped a set en route. By seeing off Draper and advancing to the championship match in the British capital, he also claimed his second Top 10 win of the season after stunning Alcaraz in Doha in February.

The two-time ATP Tour champion, Lehecka is up five spots to No. 25 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, just three spots from his career high.