Jiri Lehecka

“There was a guy who sat just behind my bench on a smaller court, court four, and he was talking to me basically for the first three sets, like non-stop,”

Jiri Lehecka · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-04

Lehecka describes a spectator who relentlessly taunted him during a match at the US Open.

“He was talking to me like: ‘You can’t do it. You are tired. He’s better than you are.’”

Jiri Lehecka · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-04

Lehecka recounts the specific taunts the spectator directed at him during the match.

“The reaction was not very powerful. It was: ‘Yeah, I can’t do anything as long as he’s not insulting you.’ It was some person who knew exactly where the line was. So it wasn’t a nice experience. I won that match, but I think that as soon as you start going against the other player instead of cheering for the player you had a bet on, this is wrong.”

Jiri Lehecka · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-04

Lehecka recalls the umpire's response and reflects on the experience of facing a disruptive bettor.

“I think that we can see this, basically, I don’t want to say in every tournament, but in many tournaments, especially in Europe,”

Jiri Lehecka · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-04

Lehecka says disruptive gamblers are visible at many tournaments, especially in Europe.

“In that moment, I took it as a motivation, but just out of curiosity, I spoke to the chair umpire and I was like: ‘Do you think this is normal? Can you do something with that?’”

Jiri Lehecka · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-04

Lehecka describes speaking to the chair umpire about the disruptive spectator.