“Begging Nadal for a T-shirt? That’s foreign to me.” The lightweight intimidates the stars already in training

He beat the former world No. 1, a clay court legend, but the Czech tennis player Jiří Leheček did not celebrate in any way, he just went to shake his opponent’s hand. Respect for Rafael Nadal, who presented himself at the tournament in Madrid for the last time, but he certainly does not exaggerate. On the contrary.

He respects the stars, but he can easily sweep them away in training when it comes down to it. This is how he defeated the Spaniard and the Russian Daniil Medvedev, who now awaits him as an opponent for the semi-finals.

The scene went around the world. When Nadal beat Pablo Cachín in the third round of the tournament in Madrid, the 29-year-old Argentine came up to him and begged if he could give him his shirt.

The friendly gesture, which is common at football matches but largely unknown to tennis players, has sparked lively debate about the limits of respect for the Spanish legend.

And so even the Czech tennis player was asked after his round of 16 win over Nadal if he had thought of asking for something from the parting Spaniard’s equipment.

“I don’t want it to sound disrespectful, but this behavior is a bit foreign to me,” responded the successful Czech.

“After all, when I go to a match on the court and I want to beat the opponent, I won’t run after him and ask him for something. If you’re playing a match and already during the match it’s running through your head that you want something as a souvenir, then what do you do in such a match are you doing? It’s weird,” explained Lehečka.

Although he admitted that he has some understanding for the Argentinians. Even the native of Kněžmost longed for at least training with the king of clay. He got lucky just before the tournament in Madrid.

“And after training, I asked him for a photo, because I had no idea that we would still have a chance to play against each other. But to ask him for a T-shirt after the match? I have a different approach to these things,” added the current Czech number one.

You really can’t expect excessive respect from him. On the contrary, he doesn’t pair up with the stars even in training.

Before the start of the tournament, he beat not only Nadal, but also the Russian star Medvedev. He also took one sharp set, which they cut in training in the Spanish capital.

“Madrid is a very specific place, the clay courts here are different, fast. Last year I wasn’t well prepared for it here, this year it’s about something completely different,” praised the Czech player who finished in the second round at the same place last year.

It is the fourth player in the world and seeded three Medvedev will be his next opponent in the fight for the semi-finals of the Masters event.

The organizers made their battle one of the main points of the Thursday evening program after eight o’clock, and the newspaper Aktuálně.cz will bring it to you in an online report.

It is already clear that the opponent of the winner will be the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, who was previously defeated by the Italian Jannik Sinner.