New York, September 05 (H.S.): Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated 18th-seeded Czech Republic player Jiri Lehecka to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.

Tsitsipas defeated Lehecka 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 in their match played on Friday. The victory marked the first time Tsitsipas has reached the fourth round of the US Open.

Tsitsipas hit four times as many aces as Lehecka and sealed the match in impressive fashion with a service winner. With the victory, the Greek star reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in more than two years.

After the win, Tsitsipas acknowledged the crowd and said, “You supported me throughout this match and helped me get to the finish.” He was referring to the strong backing he received from the large Greek-American contingent in the stands in New York.

Tsitsipas had already caused an upset in the opening round by defeating rising French player Arthur Fils. He followed that performance with another impressive display against Lehecka. The two players shared the opening two sets, but the third-set tie-break proved to be the turning point. Tsitsipas struck two consecutive aces, while Lehecka, who had reached the quarter-finals in New York last year, committed a double fault and made several errors on his groundstrokes.

Tsitsipas finished the match with 34 winners, compared with Lehecka’s 22. The Greek player committed 30 unforced errors, while the Czech produced 41.

After his 2025 season was disrupted by a back problem, Tsitsipas said he is now free of pain. “This season probably hasn’t been the best for me, but at least I wake up every day happy that I’m not in pain. I know I can go out and practise without the uncertainty of wondering how my body is going to respond,” he said.

The 28-year-old Tsitsipas has reached two Grand Slam finals. He was a consistent top-10 player in the early part of the 2020s and was widely viewed as one of the players who could carry the mantle of greats such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

However, his ranking and performances have declined in recent years amid the remarkable rise of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar