Jiří Lehečka will have a story for his grandchildren.
The 22-year-old native of the Czech Republic became the lowest-ranked man to beat the legendary Rafael Nadal in a Masters 1000 clay event or at Roland Garros when he took out the Spaniard 7-5, 6-4, in the round of 16 at the Madrid Open in what may have been Nadal’s last match in his native Spain.
Five-time champion Nadal was playing on the Madrid clay for the final time, in what he expects to be the last season of his career.
For Lehečka, ranked No. 31 in the world, it was the biggest victory of his career. Although Nadal is currently ranked No. 512 in the world, he has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and is universally regarded as the greatest clay court player of all time.
“It’s amazing to share a court with such a legendary player. It’s a dream come true; I always wished for this to happen,” Lehecka said. “I’m very grateful to achieve such a big moment and all the best to Rafa. It’s kind of bittersweet to have such a nice win in front of all these people who were cheering for him. The energy was amazing.”
Lehečka’s previous best wins were a pair of victories over then-No. 5 Andrey Rublev.
Nadal, 37, was coming off a 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 win over Pedro Cachin of Argentina on Monday that required him to spend three hours and six minutes on court.
The question now remains: What is next for the legendary Spaniard?
He indicated before the tournament that if he wasn’t healthy enough given his , he would not play the French Open starting next month. Nadal has won 14 of his 22 Slams at Roland Garros.
The Italian Open begins next week.
After injuring a hip flexor at the Australian Open in 2023, when he was the defending champion, Nadal had arthroscopic surgery last summer and missed the rest of the year. He withdrew from this year’s Australian Open and returned in Brisbane, Australia, in January and looked good while winning two matches.
He then withdrew from Doha and Indian Wells, but returned in Barcelona, where he lost to Alex de Minaur.
Still, he looked healthy in winning three matches in Madrid, including one over No. 10 Alex de Minaur in straight sets.
“Nadal’s actually hitting the ball harder today,” Jim Courier said on Tennis Channel. “Serve’s been bigger, ground strokes when he’s given a chance look good.
“If this is his last match here, this has been a very good tournament for Nadal’s team, I believe, and I think they would agree with that.”
With Lehečka serving at 7-5, 4-3, the crowd roared in support of Nadal, trying to urge him to turn the tables on a man 15 years his junior.
But the Czech held serve, winning the game with a deft forehand volley winner.
Nadal then held serve for 4-5 with a ripping forehand winner down the line.
The Czech then closed it out on his serve when Nadal hit a backhand wide for the biggest win of his life.
And the two men shook hands at the net, as Nadal walked off a clay court in Spain maybe for the last time.
