World No. 74 Jiri Lehecka takes on world No. 119 Francesco Passaro in a group-stage encounter of the Next Gen ATP Finals on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old made it to the first round in all four majors this year. He had to progress from the qualifiers at the Australian Open but in the other three Grand Slams, he began directly from the main draw. Lehecka has played in both the tour-level tournament and also on the Challenger circuit. His best result in a tour-level tournament came at the ATP Rotterdam where he made it to the semis. He was eventually ousted by Stefanos Tsitsipas. Lehecka won his only Challenger title this season in Liberec in August.
He most recently played in the Paris Masters and won his first qualifying match against Marcos Giron but lost in the following qualifier against Mikael Ymer.
The Italian youngster has mostly played on the ITF circuit and the Challenger events. He has made it to 7 finals this year but has won only a couple of them. Passaro broke into the top 150 for the first time in his career this season.
The 21-year-old most recently played the Tennis Napoli Cup. He progressed to the main draw after winning a couple of qualifying matches but his run ended in the first round with a loss against Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have not faced each other before.
Prediction: Jiri Lehecka to win in straight sets.
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