Daniil Medvedev reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time on Monday when Czech Jiri Lehecka was forced to retire at the end of the second set of the pair’s fourth-round clash due to injury.
The third seed, who is making his fifth appearance at The Championships, led the Lehecka 6-4, 6-2 on Court 1 when the 21-year-old retired. With his 80-minute win, Medvedev earned a Tour-leading 45th victory of the season.
“I honestly did not know until he retired,” Medvedev said. “I mean, I saw that his movement was a little bit restricted, but the way he struck the ball, I thought it was not going to cause him [too much] trouble. But when he retired, I was like, ‘OK, I see it’s different’. Unfortunately during a match, you don’t have any other choice than to fight for every point, because of how many times it happened, even with me, that you think you are injured and then you win one game, one break, and get back into the match. You think, ‘OK, maybe I should continue playing’, and then you win the match.
“You have to fight until the last point, and of course I feel sorry for Jiri because in the fourth round of Wimbledon, to get hurt, is not easy. Hopefully he can recover fast and of course he has a lot more Grand Slams to come ahead of him.“
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Medvedev is chasing his second major title this week, after triumphing at the US Open in 2021. He will continue his quest in south-west London against fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or American Christopher Eubanks.
By reaching the last eight, the 27-year-old has become the 10th active player to advance to the quarter-finals at all four majors. He is a two-time Australian Open finalist, while he advanced to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2021.
“The thing is, it’s probably my fifth or sixth Wimbledon, and I’ve not been very successful, but I’ve never lost on this court,” Medvedev said. “I feel sorry that probably in the quarter-finals, I’m going to play on centre. I’m like, ‘Can I just continue here? I love it, I’ve never lost so far here’. I’m really happy and looking forward to the next match, I’m going to give 100 per cent.”
Meeting for the first time, long baseline exchanges were the order of the two sets played. Lehecka timed the ball cleanly and looked to pin Medvedev back with his depth, but the World No. 3 offered few errors and produced a strong serving display, winning 97 per cent (28/29) of points behind his first delivery.
Lehecka defeated Tommy Paul in five sets in the third round and looked fatigued during the clash against Medvedev, receiving a medical timeout at the end of the first set. Despite falling one match short of a second major quarter-final (Australian Open 2023), the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up leaves London at No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.