Rafael Nadal told Madrid Open is ‘the worst for his clay-court tennis’ as next opponent makes ‘favourite’ joke
Jiri Lehecka has joked he should be the favourite in his Madrid Open showdown with Rafael Nadal because of the great Spaniard’s low current ranking.
The Czech star described facing Nadal on clay as “one of the biggest challenges in tennis”, but feels the conditions in Madrid are “one of the worst” for the tennis legend’s game on the surface.
Nadal will face Lehecka, the world No 31, in the last 16 of the Madrid Open on Tuesday as he looks to continue his hugely positive run at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
The 37-year-old has defeated Darwin Blanch, Alex de Minaur and Pedro Cachin to progress to the fourth round in Madrid. The world No 512 recently made his comeback at the Barcelona Open after over three months out due to injury.
The former world No 1 has an outstanding record at all of the most significant clay-court tournaments, but he has been at his least dominant in Madrid.
Nadal has remarkably reached doubles figures for titles at the French Open (14), the Barcelona Open (12), the Monte Carlo Masters (11) and the Italian Open (10).
In comparison, the Spaniard has lifted the Madrid Open trophy four times since the event switched surfaces from hard courts to clay in 2009.
The conditions in Madrid make the tournament an outlier among the big clay-court events due to the considerably higher altitude of the Spanish capital.
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Following his third round victory against Thiago Monteiro in Madrid, Lehecka addressed who would be the favourite if he faced Nadal.
“He’s 600 in the world so I should be the favourite,” he joked to reporters.
The 22-year-old recognised the threat posed by the ‘King of Clay’, while suggesting Madrid is the best event to play Nadal on his favourite surface.
“If I’d go on court scared about what is happening, then I don’t really need to go there. This is something I’m trying to get away from my mind. But we know it’s Rafa and it’s clay,”
“I also know I do have the level to play very good tennis this week, and these conditions are one of the worst for his clay-court tennis. I’ll go on the court like I’m going to win and I will try to show my best tennis.
“It will be a great honour and a great experience for me. We all know Rafa on clay is one of the biggest challenges in tennis.
“Even if he’s not having the best season, I saw his level against [Alex] de Minaur and it made me want to say that his tennis was back.
“He proved he could play great tennis again. It will be a great challenge for me and I’ll be very happy to share the court with him.”
Lehecka also spoke about his experience of practising with the 22-time Grand Slam champion last week ahead of his first clash with the Mallorcan.
“When we practiced, it was windy, a smaller court… We were both trying to find our rhythm again. And it was just practice so it’s totally different,” he added.
“With Rafa, it’s a big difference between practice and when he gets the big court with all the fans supporting him. But definitely, he has improved his game since.”
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