21
Djokovic Lehecka Practice Last Night At US Open
14 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
If you were strolling the US Open last night around 7 pm while many qualifying matches were still being played, and decided to take a gander into the Grandstand to see if anyone was hitting, you found a big surprise. Novak Djokovic was on the court with Jiri Lehecka.
Grandstand is usually not used by any players at night during qualies week but this was a special occasion because Djokovic apparently just flew in to New York yesterday from Serbia and wanted to hit.
The Djokovic practice was not on the schedule for practices and so the only people inside watching were the lucky ones who randomly walked in, like me.
The first thing I saw was Djokovic and Lehecka just hitting from the baseline. It became clear Djokovic was still slightly disoriented from the jet lag and flight and struggling with his form and timing and also the cooler temperatures in the high 60s low 70s which is very unusual for mid August in New York City. Also, Lehecka’s heavy hitting were also giving Novak trouble. Lehecka looks like he added about ten pounds of muscle bulk.
Djokovic had to blow his runny nose a few times. He had to drink water and towel off on the baseline between some rallies. The two ATP titans eventually progressed to hitting cross courts, then volleys and overheads, then serves, the normal routine for most US Open practices.
All through the training, Djokovic never looked into the stands, his eyes were always on business and on the ball and the next rally. 22 year old Lehecka looks in peak form right now. He just lost in the Cincy quarterfinals to Tiafoe 76 in the third set after being sidelined with an injury vs. Felix Auger Aliassime since Madrid in late April. He’s ranked 32 in the world now.
Djokovic clearly was a little off his Olympic gold medal level of Paris, though he resumed training last week in Serbia after a couple of weeks of celebrating and relaxing. One of Steffi Graf’s friends told me in my book Facing Steffi Graf that when she took a week off, her timing would go so off that she could barely hit a ball cleanly for the first 15 minutes of her first practice back.
Djokovic didn’t show any frustration or negativity, and he did start grunting to help with his timing and fluidity. The two didn’t talk much but it was Djokovic who gave the orders, “Let’s switch sides, because of the wind…” Also he would tell Lehecka where he was serving, “Tee… second serve tee…”
Djokovic and Lehecka have played once in the ATP, earlier this year at United Cup and Djokovic won 61 67 61. Lehecka has won one career ATP title, compared to 99 for Djokovic.
But on this quiet evening in Flushing Meadows, Lehecka was the slightly superior player making cleaner contact and striking his targets a little more accurately. When they started to play tiebreakers, Lehecka swept the first one 7-0 and was cruising in the second one 5-1 when Djokovic served and hit a forehand winner and then decided to stop playing right then and there, after winning a point on his terms, to end the hitting session on a positive note.
Lehecka was not bothered by the abrupt ending to the session, just honored to share a court with the greatest champion in tennis history, the teams embraced and shook hands and Lehecka asked for a selfie with Novak.
It was clear Djokovic’s game and form need a few more days of fine tuning and he just needs to hit a few hundred or thousands more balls to regain the level of tennis supremacy the sport has been lucky to witness in this most magical generational era of tennis history.
The funniest moment of the practice was when Djokovic tried a drop shot and Lehecka hustled and made a forehand lunging cross court winner on the line, an amazing shot. Djokovic loved it and gave his partner a huge smile as he enjoyed the flash of tennis genius. The Lehecka, also smiling, then did the famous Djokovic violin gesture with his racquet back to the master.
Throughout the practice, the crowd of a few hundred lucky fans were very respectful and quiet, appreciating the special lucky privilege to be able to see the greatest tennis champion of all time, working hard on the tennis court where most of his live has been spent. Then at the end, the fans scrambled to get his signature and selfies and he obliged them all for several minutes before departing with his team.
Jiri Lehecka · Novak Djokovic · US Open
Steve · August 22, 2024 at 8:02 am
Have you ever in your life seen a pro player lose a match and then return to heckle his opponent during their next match?
Tomic did:
https://youtu.be/xC4XgDLUyxU?si=BY9dCsCb2v0VVkv6
Scoop Malinowski · August 22, 2024 at 8:18 am
Steve, What did Andrade do during the match to so irritate Tomic to come back days later, unless he’s friends with Dzumhur? That’s the part of the drama no one is talking about. I didn’t see anything so abrasive by Andrade to irk Tomic. Maybe Tomic just being irrational.
Steve · August 22, 2024 at 8:54 am
First they had a fight about hindrance caused by a bird landing on the court and then they had a larger dispute over a line call.
I’ve been liking Tomic’s attempt to get back to the top 100 so it’s sad to seem him do this though it’s also pretty funny.
Scoop Malinowski · August 22, 2024 at 9:33 am
Tomic is desperately trying to fight back to top 100, top 50, like Sock did for three years which ultimately ended in failure. Tomic will likely meet the same fate as Sock. Tomic has been training and working hard for two years but is till stuck outside top 200.
Steve · August 22, 2024 at 10:12 am
It’s wild because he wins a lot when I watch the highlights of his matches but he still lingers at around 250 in the world.
Scoop Malinowski · August 22, 2024 at 10:28 am
Same deal as Sock, a few good matches good wins here and there but ongoing inconsistent results. Bringing along the gf doesn’t help his focus. For Sock it was bringing his wife, not saying his wife was a bad influence, not at all, she was a fantastic positive supporter but his comeback would have been more successful if he didn’t have to dedicate half of his attention and energy to his wife, 100 percent all on tennis might have been more advantageous.
Steve · August 22, 2024 at 11:15 am
I remember Gulbis also languished in qualies and the lower levels for some time. He did not handle it well. I saw him throw a tantrum at the US Open qualies.
Scoop Malinowski · August 22, 2024 at 10:07 pm
Steve, Gulbis was just at the precipice of elite, he made one grand slam semi, top ten but he just couldn’t sustain it. I remember he used to train together always with Thiem with their same coach Gunter Bresnik, I watched them train at US Open on old grandstand when Gulbis was at his highest and Theim was still outside top 50 and the difference was evident, Thiem was training doing the drills with a ferocity and intensity 110% all out every ball, every step. Gulbis was the opposite, just going through the motions. Of course it was a foreshadow for their futures. Thiem became a superstar, Gulbis started to decline and never regained his mojo.
Cyndy · August 23, 2024 at 2:56 am
Scoop Malinowski— it was lovely to read on Djokovic/Lehecka match at Flushing Meadows prior to the USOpen which will be starting next week. It’s only when the draw was out that I was more than shocked to see that Sinners name is there and that he will be playing! Oh no I seriously thought that he would withdraw actually considering all that has cropped up in recent days due to the doping discovery which of course was in actuality recent months. So he should just do the honourable thing and withdraw and that way he would garner some shred of respect. Why else then was he stripped of his 400 points and prize money if it was nothing right. Really wonder what kind of an atmosphere it will be for him once he steps onto the court for his first match. Although he still has time to not play.
Scoop Malinowski · August 23, 2024 at 8:43 am
Cyndy, the dark forces of the world can lie their way out of any situation, any disaster where they are caught red-handed. Bill Clinton, USS Liberty/Israel, Kobe Bryant rape… Sinner was given a warm reception at his practice on Ashe yesterday so I expect the same for his first match. Maybe there will be one or two loud mouthed hecklers who yell “DOUBLE DRUG CHEAT!!” Cahill can just keep repeating “Jannik would never do anything intentionally he’s just not that kind of person, he’s the most professional young man I’ve ever worked with blah blah blah” and the propaganda will succeed. It’s all about propaganda now, facts don’t matter. Don’t expect ATP to return Sinner’s 400 points or prize money though )
Cyndy · August 23, 2024 at 10:21 am
Scoop Malinowski— it is appalling to hear that he was given a warm welcome as you mentioned.. the people sure are blind. Unless someone with clout just comes and takes over all of the ATP and run it a different way. This is not looking good and Sinner will be encouraged to parlay on. Money talks literally! And Sinners/Cahill et al all in it. Hopefully the truth should surface much more earlier by some of the players even. Those loud mouthed hecklers will be swiftly pushed out before they cause their ruckus to further disrupt Sinners matches. After all it seems like he’s heavily protected. Ah well and oh blimey.
Scoop Malinowski · August 23, 2024 at 12:15 pm
Cyndy, Maybe people don’t really care about hardcore cheating that was witchcraftily minimized down to some kind of blooper gaffe by a flunky gopher. The people just want to see great tennis. Sinner plays great tennis, doesn’t matter what they inject. The masses are easily manipulated. Look at how the media and deep state minimized jeffrey epstein child trafficking and raping blackmail ring down to nothing (not one person was prosecuted or jailed). Mind control of the masses is easy.
Cyndy · August 23, 2024 at 7:49 pm
Yes yes you’re so right on that Scoop Malinowski. I do remember on the Epstein case and it’s not even talked about any more. The media is horrible surely. Blatant disregard for all things moral. Utterly strange.
Scoop Malinowski · August 24, 2024 at 7:14 am
Actually Cyndy, the media is satanic under the mask. I saw the video of Walter Cronkite speaking on a dais in the 70s or 80s saying worship Satan. that’s all you need to know about the mainstream media. he who controls the information controls the people.