By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) -Jiri Lehecka downed Britain’s Jack Draper to ruin the script at Queen’s Club on Saturday, winning a gripping semi-final 6-4 4-6 7-5 to become the first Czech man to reach an ATP grasscourt final for 15 years.
Fans packed into the Andy Murray Arena at the west London club had arrived expecting to cheer Draper, who will climb to fourth in the world rankings on Monday, into a likely final against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
But Lehecka, the world number 30, had other ideas as he produced a stunning display in stifling heat.
“It means a lot. You don’t meet a player like Jack every day, he’s an amazing competitor,” Lehecka said.
Second seed Draper, bidding to follow in the footsteps of five-time Queen’s champion Murray, dropped his opening service game and Lehecka barely a put a foot wrong as he took the first set in clinical fashion.
Left-hander Draper saved a break point early in the second set and then broke fellow 23-year-old Lehecka’s serve for the first time in the 10th game to level the match.
Both players were rock solid on serve in the decider with Lehecka having the first chance of a break at 4-4 but Draper survived to pile the pressure on his opponent.
Lehecka did not flinch though and broke serve at 5-5 with two stunning passing shots, one a forehand and then a backhand, to leave Draper smashing his racket in rage against a court-side electronic advertising board and receiving a code violation.
There was still the small matter of holding serve to reach the final but Lehecka did that in style, roaring his delight after clinching his first victory against a top-10 player since beating Alcaraz in Doha in February.
The last Czech man to reach a top-level grass-court final was Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010 and the last to do so at Queen’s was Ivan Lendl in 1990.
Alcaraz faces fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the day’s second semi-final.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
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