Jiri Lehecka defeated former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-5 at the Croatia Open.
In his first matchup with Thiem, the Czech, Lehecka won 82 per cent (31/38) of his first-serve points and overcame a breakdown in the second set to progress after one hour and 41 minutes.
In the quarterfinals, the 21-year-old, who is competing for the first time in Umag, will take on seventh seed Matteo Arnaldi. The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan featured Lehecka and Arnaldi as competitors. The Czech won the match to go to the championship match.
Lehecka has used that outcome as a catapult this season, with his journey to the Australian Open quarterfinals and fourth round at Wimbledon serving as examples. Prior to this week, the World No. 33's greatest performance on clay was a third-round showing at the ATP Masters 1000 competition in Monte Carlo.
This week in the ATP 250 clay-court competition, Lehecka is going for his first tour-level victory. Thiem, the Umag winner from 2015, was attempting to advance to his third quarterfinal at the tour level this year. The Austrian's season record in Croatia is 9–17.
Elsewhere, the 2006 champion Stan Wawrinka also advanced later in the day. Wawrinka, who won his first ATP Tour title in Umag 17 years ago, surged past Argentine Federico Coria 7-5, 6-1 to earn his spot in the last eight. The former World No. 3 will next face Roberto Carballes Baena, who eliminated Taro Daniel 6-3, 6-1.
Wawrinka won 56 per cent of the first-serve return points he faced against Coria, resulting in five service breaks. For the first time since 2007, the Swiss are participating in Umag.
Jaume Munar defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-3 to progress as well. The second seed Lorenzo Sonego, who defeated Marco Cecchinato 6-1, 7-6(7), will now face the Spaniard.
After one hour and 37 minutes, Sonego won the second set tie-break after fending off one set point. The 28-year-old reached the fourth round at Roland Garros, which was his finest performance on clay this season.
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