Czech Jiri Lehecka, revelation of this edition, he beat the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) and 7-6(3) in three hours and 14 minutes to reach the quarter-finals Australian Open for the first time in his career.

“It’s honestly amazing. It’s hard to find words to describe how I came from last year to Australia. If someone had told me that, I wouldn’t have believed them,” said he said after a win that lifted him 32 places to 39th on the ATP list.

The Czech, who could not win any match in the first round in “major” competition last season, will face the winner of the duel between the Italian Jannik Sinner (15 years old) and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (3 years old).

“All the guys I’ve beaten here, they’re all amazing players, so I have to play my best tennis,” he said after beating 21-year-old Croatian Borna Coric and Briton Cameron Norrie ( 11 years old) in previous rounds.

His first victory in the final draw of the ATP competition came in February last year when he beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the first round in Rotterdam and reached the semi-finals.

Lehecka was unimpressed with the resolution of a first set that fell to the Canadian side and combined both his power from the baseline and his finesse with the volleys after scoring 80% of the points that came are finished in the net.

Now he could get revenge for his Rotterdam semi-final loss to Tsitsipas in case the Hellenic prevails over Sinner.

Korda meets Khachanov in the quarter-finals

The American Sebastien Korda (29), who beat the Pole in five sets Hubert Hurkacz (10), will face the Russian Karen Khachanova (18), executioner of the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (31), in the first quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Korda picked up the most important victory of his career against the tenth seed after winning a close encounter that felt like a roller coaster 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6 and 7-6(7 ).

“I couldn’t have done it without you, you pushed me here,” the American told a Rod Laver Arena who witnessed one of the best duels of the current edition of the tournament.

In his previous match, the American won over the home crowd at Melbourne Park’s main stadium after beating current runner-up Daniil Medvedev (7) in straight sets.

You lost it?

This is how the Korda party ended.

LO-CU-RA 🔥👏😮pic.twitter.com/czIEBSrSeE

– Tennis Time (@TennisTime1) January 22, 2023

The Pole was able to resist the pressure and save two break points as the score was tied at 5-5 in the final set.

In the tie-break, which started evenly, the son of Czech tennis player Petr Korda scored six points in a row that gave him an advantage that would prove definitive in securing an unprecedented ticket to a quarter-final. in slam competition.

Korda is the third American to advance to the quarter-finals in Melbourne after Andy Roddick advanced to the round of 16 in 2010 and joined fellow tennis players Sandgren and Frances Tiafoe.

His next rival, Russian Khachanov, didn’t have to wear himself out as much as in the previous round against American Tiafoe, after beating Japan’s Nishioka 6-0, 6-0, 7-6(4) .

“In the first two sets I didn’t know what was going on but it’s never easy when the score is so easy,” said Khachanov who was brilliant on serve after keeping 93% of the points won with the first. , as well as 15 “aces”. .

The Japanese, who had won all nine sets contested in the previous rounds, couldn’t find a rhythm in the first two sets which lasted 46 minutes and only picked up two points in the second set.

The first quarter-final match between Korda and Khachanov will take place this Tuesday at one of the main stadiums in Melbourne Park.