Jiri Lehecka Rallies Past Struff to Reach Basel Final

Jiri Lehecka was one point from going home on Saturday, then flipped the whole match. The Czech saved a match point serving at 4-5 in the second set and came back to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Basel final at the Swiss Indoors.

That ends a wild run for Struff, who knocked out Novak Djokovic earlier in the week. For Lehecka, the No. 8 seed, it is a third final this season and a shot at his first title since Brisbane last year, after losing finals in Miami to Jannik Sinner and in Tokyo to Carlos Alcaraz.

How Lehecka Turned It Around

Struff owned the first set, taking it 6-3 in about half an hour. The second set was all Struff pressure too, and he got to match point with Lehecka serving at 4-5.

Lehecka saved it, held, then broke Struff right after to steal the set 7-5. Once he had the momentum, he did not give it back. He broke in the very first game of the third set and served it out 6-4, finishing a match that ran just over two hours.

The Numbers That Mattered

The serve carried him. Lehecka hit 22 aces, double what Struff managed, and held in 14 of his 16 service games. He also won 78% of the points behind his first serve, which is how you stay steady when the other guy is serving big too. When Struff did get looks, Lehecka saved 5 of the 7 break points he faced, including the one that mattered most.

That is a big-serving German on the other side of the net, and Lehecka still out-aced him two to one. Against a guy who had just beaten Djokovic, that is a real statement.

Vacherot Waits Sunday

Lehecka faces Valentin Vacherot in Sunday's final, set for 6:30 AM PT (9:30 AM ET). Vacherot beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets earlier Saturday. These two have split their two tour meetings, and Lehecka won the most recent one in the Tokyo semifinals three weeks ago.

Lehecka's path to the final also went through Stan Wawrinka in the Swiss great's last Basel match, Daniel Altmaier and wild card Jerome Kym, the guy who knocked out top seed Ben Shelton.

My Smacktok lean: take Lehecka to win Sunday's final. He beat Vacherot three weeks ago in Tokyo, he served 22 aces on Saturday, and he just showed he can win from a match point down.