Jiri Lehecka is a serve and forehand player whose grass results have caught up with a game that suits the surface. He finished the 2026 season 6th in the GTC Grass Rankings with a GTC Grass Rating of 114, up from 10th before the swing began.
Grass at a glance
- GTC Grass Rating: 114, 6th in the men’s rankings (10th before the season)
- Pillars: Lawn Form 74, Arsenal 75, Wimbledon 53, Nerve 58
- Nationality: Czech Republic
- Best Wimbledon result: Fourth round (2023, 2026)
- Grass titles: None yet; runner-up at Queen’s Club in 2025
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
How Jiri plays on grass
Lehecka builds his grass tennis on the first two shots. He serves with weight and looks to take the next ball early with the forehand, hitting through the court rather than over it. On a surface that shortens points, that pattern gets him through service games quickly and leaves energy to attack second serves. His Arsenal score of 75, the best of his four pillars, reflects how naturally the power game transfers.
The surface also exposes him. He is a strong athlete but not a natural slider, and he uses the slice and the net less than the most complete grass players. Opponents who can absorb pace and keep returns low make him play extra balls, and his error count rises when he is pulled out of his preferred one-two pattern.
Nerve, at 58, is the pillar that holds his rating back. His biggest grass matches of 2026 all went to tie-breaks, and he lost each of the ones that decided the result. He was rarely outplayed in those contests; the finishing margins went the other way.
Grass record
Lehecka first made an impression at Wimbledon in 2023, reaching the fourth round with wins over 18th seed Francisco Cerúndolo and 16th seed Tommy Paul, the latter in five sets. He missed the event in 2024 and lost in the second round in 2025.
The real step on grass came at Queen’s Club in 2025, where he reached his first final on the surface. Carlos Alcaraz beat him 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2, but taking a set from the two-time defending Wimbledon champion in an ATP 500 final did most to set his preseason rating of 111.
The 2026 grass season
Stuttgart produced the best and most painful match of his year. Lehecka reached the semi-finals and held two match points in the second-set tie-break against Ben Shelton. Shelton saved both, took that tie-break 16-14 and then the third-set tie-break 8-6, before going on to win the title. The week moved Lehecka from 111 to 113.
At Queen’s Club he was the 2nd seed and the defending finalist, but lost his opening match in the second round to qualifier Rinky Hijikata, 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(7), after nearly three hours. The level was high enough for the rating to edge up to 114.
Seeded 13th at Wimbledon, he matched his best result by reaching the fourth round, where he met Alexander Zverev, the eventual runner-up. The match ran over two days because of the curfew. Lehecka trailed by two sets, won the third 6-3 on the resumption and was still level late in the fourth-set tie-break after a Zverev double fault, before losing it 8-6. He finished the season on 114.
Looking ahead to 2027
The likely 2027 route is Stuttgart or Halle, then Queen’s, then Wimbledon. Lehecka already has the weapons and the results of a top-10 grass player: a Queen’s final, two Wimbledon fourth rounds and a top-6 rating. What separates him from the players above him is conversion in close finishes, and a Wimbledon pillar of 53 that needs a first quarter-final to rise. A maiden grass title is the realistic target, and it would most likely come at one of the warm-up events where his serve does the most damage.
