ATP Tour debutant beats Denis Shapovalov to make strong statement

Czech qualifier Jirí Lehečka ousted world number 12 and Australian Open quarter-finalist Denis Shapovalov to record his first ATP Tour win on his Rotterdam debut.

The 20-year-old world number 137 took to center court like a duck to water as he showed aggressive play as he beat his Canadian opponent 6-4, 6-4 record a multitude of firsts.

After beating Jesper De Jong and 106th-placed Cornetin Moutet in qualifying, Lehečka makes his main draw debut at an ATP Tour event.

He made his Slam main draw debut at the Australian Open last month, advancing through qualifying before losing to world number 28 Grigor Dimitrov in the first round.

In fact, it was one of only six times that Lehečka had even played against an ATP top 100 ranked player before facing the Shapovalov ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

Two of those chances came against Cameron Norrie and Robin Haase in the 2021 and 2019 Davis Cup respectively.

The others were all at ATP Challenger level against Tallon Griekspoor, Richard Gasquet, Stefano Travaglia and Federcio Coria, all ranked outside the top 70 in those encounters.

Of his seven battles against the top 100 opponents before Rotterdam, Lehečka had won two, against Travaglia and Coria, the latter being his best win in terms of opponents ranking with Coria ranked 94th at the time.

By defeating Shapovalov, the young Czech not only earns his first ATP Tour main draw victory, but also his first ATP top 50 victory, his first ATP top 20 victory as well.

Finally, in 2021, Lehečka finished ninth in the “ATP Race to Milan”, the ranking points race to qualify for the Next Gen Finals.

This made him the first substitute for the event and he did not play, but he is eligible to play the event this year if he is among the best players under 21.

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