Lehecka Remains Unbroken and Unbeaten in Miami

Was Friday’s 6-2, 6-2 victory over Arthur Fils in the Miami semifinals one of the best matches Jiri Lehecka has ever played?

“Yeah, definitely,” he said with a self-assured smile after becoming the fourth Czech man to reach a Miami Masters final—and the first player to reach a Masters 1000 final without dropping serve since Novak Djokovic in Shanghai in 2018.

It’s hard to argue with the World No. 22, who never faced a break point and was locked in from the start, making relatively light work of the high-flying Frenchman to set up a final clash with either Jannik Sinner or Alexander Zverev.

Lehecka dominated in every facet and even struck more forehand winners than Fils as he became the ninth man born in the 2000s to reach a Masters 1000 final.

He converted four of 10 break points and won 82 percent of his service points, securing a new career-high ranking for Monday—up to No. 14 in the ATP Live Rankings.

“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. I knew it would come, and today was a nice example of how I want to play.”

Lehecka, who was forced to retire from his only previous Masters semifinal in Madrid in 2024 after just six games due to a back injury, needed just 75 minutes to avenge a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Fils last month in Doha and level their head-to-head at 2-2.

Fils, who had saved all 11 break points he faced en route to the semifinals, never found his footing. The Frenchman was coming off a dramatic comeback win over Tommy Paul—saving four match points—but couldn’t replicate that level on Friday.