Holger Rune vs Jiri Lehecka Prediction ATP Brisbane Tennis Picks 12/30/24

In his only ever appearance at the ATP Brisbane International, Holger Rune reached the title match last season but came up short in the final, losing to an inspired Grigor Dimitrov.

Back then, Rune appeared to be on the road to immense success following two high-profile coaching appointments of Severin Luthi and Boris Becker.

But the two men never quite worked with Rune in any long-term capacity and they left the Dane in limbo after only a few weeks.

It’s clear that the Dane suffered with the coaching carousel all season before reuniting with childhood coach Lars Christensen.

He is returning to Brisbane for the second year in a row looking to go one better than in 2024 but has one of the toughest unseeded players to deal with in his opener.

Jiri Lehecka Preview

Jiri Lehecka finished last season ranked 28th in the ATP rankings and lost his spot as the Czech No. 1 to Tomas Machac. But is quite commendable that he achieved a Top 30 year-end finish considering he missed almost four months of tennis because of injury.

Lehecka played quite well on Australian soil 12 months ago, celebrating his first ATP title in Adelaide, and taking a set from Novak Djokovic at the United Cup.

He didn't play any tennis after the Madrid Open until Cincinnati, missing two Grand Slams worth many points in the process.

Lehecka was able to compete at the US Open where he reached the third round and finished the season strongly with a runner-up finish in Antwerp and the semifinal of Belgrade. 

Overall, Lehecka compiled 30 wins and 19 losses. 

Holger Rune vs Jiri Lehecka Head-To-Head

• Rune and Lehecka have three times at all levels.

• Rune won their two meetings at Tour level including in straight sets at the 2024 Shanghai Masters.

• Lehecka's only win in this series was at the Challenger level.

Holger Rune vs Jiri Lehecka Prediction

The pick of the first-round matches in Brisbane that's for sure although I give the edge very marginally to last year's finalist Rune. He's the more consistent baseliner who can be relied on to counter Lehecka's straightforward patterns of play. Rune also has a better shot variety and perhaps one of the least spoken taking points is that he is now settled with his coaching team.