Alexander Zverev beaten on injury return by opponent he hadn't seen play before
Jiri Lehecka scored a 6-4, 6-2 upset win over world No.12 Alexander Zverev to help give the Czech Republic a 2-0 lead over Germany at the United Cup on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Lehecka, ranked No.81, broke four times in the Group C match at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney to bounce back from an opening singles loss to Taylor Fritz of the United States on Thursday.
Marie Bouzkova later beat Jule Niemeier 6-2, 7-5 in the second match to give the Czechs a 2-0 lead. Czech women’s No.1 Petra Kvitova can clinch the tie on Sunday when she faces Laura Siegemund.
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Zverev was competing for the first time since June when he tore three ligaments in his right ankle during his Roland-Garros semi-final match against Rafael Nadal.
Alexander Zverev cut a frustrated figure during his loss to Jiri Lehecka at the United Cup Getty
Incredibly, the German star revealed that he'd barely seen Lehecka play before being upset by his Czech opponent.
"I think he started playing well the time I got injured, so we kind of missed each other a little bit. It's the first time I think I've seen him play live, so yeah, a new opponent," he said.
Lehecka was over the moon after securing one of the biggest wins of his young career.
“I knew before the match that he hadn’t played in a while but with a player like him that can mean nothing,” Lehecka said. “In the crucial moments I showed all the experience from the last year playing against good players."
In other matches Saturday, Brazil took a 2-0 lead over Norway at Brisbane.
Jiri Lehecka celebrates after his upset win over Alexander Zverev at the United Cup on Saturday Getty
World 15th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia improved her tournament record to 2-0 after defeating Malene Helgo of Norway 6-4, 6-2. Felipe Meligeni Alves gave Brazil its second win of the day when he beat Viktor Durasovic 6-3, 6-3.
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“I was trying to be as aggressive as I could," Haddad Maia said. “I was happy that I was patient and giving myself chances ... even if I was missing. I was happy with the way I was thinking in this match.”
After matches completed Friday, top-ranked Greece leads Group A with a 4-1 record, Switzerland heads Group B (5-0), the U.S. is first in Group C (4-1), Britain (3-2) tops Group D, Italy is in first place in Group E with a 3-2 record and France (5-0) leads Group F.
