Lehecka meets Jodar in the Round of 16 in Montreal, and the bookmakers have made the 19-year-old Spaniard the favourite at 1.79. The intrigue is not who has been playing better over the last ten days. It is who has anything left.
One player has played too much, the other just enough
Jodar arrived in Canada off a Washington final that rain pushed back, with a bruised left wrist from a fall and almost no recovery window. He has since added two more matches, including a demanding turnaround against Moutet that ran past two hours.
Lehecka entered through a bye, removed Kopriva and Blockx in under 90 minutes each, and never looked like losing control of either match. That is a meaningful change after the Los Cabos misstep, and the work with his new coach shows in how quickly the service games are getting finished.
The serve is the deciding variable
Jodar's recent wins were built on returning, patience and turning matches around from a set down, which is expensive tennis. His own serve remains the weak link, with few free points and regular double faults, so he needs long rallies to construct anything.
Lehecka takes that time away by living off the serve-plus-first-ball pattern and stepping forward. The Spaniard is emotionally durable enough to make it close, but above 2.00 the fresher and heavier hitter is underpriced.
Prediction: Lehecka to win, odds 2.02
