Heroic Lehecka snatches third-round ticket

Jiri Lehecka gave himself a real scare on Wednesday.

Back from injury since the Cincinnati tournament, where he knocked out Medvedev, the Czech showed absolutely insane mental resilience to qualify for the third round of the US Open.

Opposed to a Mitchell Krueger on cloud nine (179th in the world and a qualifier), the gifted 22-year-old went through all kinds of emotions.

After conceding the first set, Lehecka suffered a real tennis lesson in the second. But the Czech never gave up.

Leading by a break in the third set (7-6, 6-0, 3-0), he revealed himself at the last moment, showing himself to be more aggressive than ever.

More effective than ever on serve, and buoyed by a new-found quality in his groundstrokes, the world number 38 won the third, fourth and fifth sets in quick succession.

The winner of a match lasting just over 4 hours and featuring a Dantesque scenario (6-7, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5), Tomas Berdych's protégé will meet the winner of the match between Rublev and Rinderknech in the third round.