Jiri Lehecka needed four match points to finish it since Learner Tien saved the first at 6-5, 40-30 with a 23-shot rally that ended with Lehecka netting a return. Lehecka set up the second with an overhead and then double-faulted it away. Tien saved the third with a forehand pass. On the fourth, Lehecka hit a forehand winner off the third ball of the point, dropped to his knees, and Czechia had beaten the United States 3-2 to reach the Davis Cup Final 8.
Lehecka beat Tien 6-3, 7-5 in the fifth rubber at the O2 Arena on Saturday night, his second win of the weekend after Friday’s 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Ben Shelton. For the second September running the Czechs trailed the United States 2-1 going into the last two singles and won both. A year ago in Delray Beach it was Jakub Mensik who beat Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-4 in the decider.
The first set turned in its seventh and eighth games. Lehecka had broken for 2-0 when Tien netted a drop shot, and Tien broke straight back with a backhand pass down the line. At 3-3 the American had two break points and Lehecka saved both. In the next game Tien double-faulted and put a forehand into the net, Lehecka had the break for 5-3, and he served out the set from 30-30. Tien led the second set 3-0 and could not hold it. Lehecka broke him at 5-5 and served for the tie.
“The wins in Davis Cup are always a little bit different because this is a team competition,” Lehecka said afterwards. “I must say it has been a great week. But, most importantly, we made it through as a team. Without Jakub winning against Ben, I would not have the chance to play the final match.”
Mensik’s turnaround Twenty-four hours earlier Mensik had been beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Tien in 67 minutes, the American’s third win in three meetings with him. Against Shelton on Saturday, with the United States one match from Bologna, he lost the first set 7-5, reached set point in the second at the same stage he had in the first, and this time converted it with a forehand. He closed out the third on his second match point in a tight final game and won 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
“Yesterday wasn’t my day,” Mensik said. “When I saw Jiri play and the atmosphere and energy he brought, it’s something I was missing yesterday.” The Americans had gone ahead in the doubles that opened the day. Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek saved four match points to beat Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8), which left Shelton one win from sending the United States to Bologna.
Instead it was his third defeat in eight days, after the US Open final against Alexander Zverev and Friday’s loss to Lehecka. Shelton had pulled out of next weekend’s Laver Cup to play this tie, and Brandon Nakashima took his place on Team World. “No regrets. There’s zero regrets,” United States captain Bob Bryan said. “We brought the best team possible. Ben’s setting an example, win or lose, he’s setting an example to the younger generation on what it means to prioritize playing for your country.”
Bologna Czechia join South Korea, Austria and Canada, who also qualified on Saturday, and Italy, the host nation and three-time defending champion, at the Final 8 in Bologna from 24 to 29 November. The last three places are settled on Sunday: Germany and Croatia are level 1-1 in Halle, Great Britain lead Ecuador 2-0 in London, and Spain lead Chile 2-0 on clay in Santiago. The quarterfinal draw has not been scheduled. Our Final 8 tracker has the full field as it stands.
The United States, champions a record 32 times, have not won the Davis Cup since 2007 and will start 2027 in the Qualifiers first round. Czechia, who won the competition in 2012 and 2013 under the old format, played in front of more than 13,000 spectators on each day in Prague. For how the qualifying rounds feed into Bologna, see how the Davis Cup works and for every champion since 1968, our list of Davis Cup winners. The draw and venue for this tie are in our Prague preview and there is more on the Czech No. 1 in our Jiri Lehecka profile.
