Tennis
2026-02-26 - Felix Auger Aliassime vs Jiri Lehecka
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : ATP 500 Dubai Quarter Final
Thursday 26th February 2026 - Scheduled 4pm
12pm (British Time)
Preview
A poor run Down Under that culminated in a First Round exit at the Australian Open in a match that Felix Auger Aliassime was unable to finish will have been a cause for concern for his fans.
Those have been eased after the Canadian returned to the Tour to win the title in Montpellier and follow up by reaching the Rotterdam Final before coming up short against Alex De Minaur.
Two wins in the tournament in Dubai has maintained the strong form and Felix Auger Aliassime will move into the top six of the World Rankings by winning the title in Dubai. The serve has been a huge weapon in 2026 with 92% of games ending in holds and Auger Aliassime has impressed by finding a Break in 20% of return games played.
Throughout his career, Felix Auger Aliassime has struggled for consistency on the return and so his form this year will offer a huge amount of encouragement.
The Quarter Final will not be easy against Jiri Lehecka who also struggled through the opening weeks of the season before finding some form last week. He reached the Quarter Final in Doha and has backed that up in Dubai, although Jiri Lehecka has benefited by beating two opponents Ranked outside of the top 100.
Felix Auger Aliassime deserves to be favourite, but the two hard court matches between the players have both been dominated by the server.
In those, Auger Aliassime has held 97% of service games played and Lehecka is at 92% and you have to feel that this is going to be a match where both should be able to roll through service games.
These two players have had to play seven sets on the hard courts against one another and four of those have needed a Tie-Breaker to determine the outcome.
It certainly looks overpriced to have at least one Breaker in this Quarter Final with the serving prowess that both possess and that looks the right play.
Prediction
Two big time servers should be able to hold themselves together to at least get to one Tie-Breaker in this one.
The Pick :
Felix Auger Aliassime 2-0 Jiri Lehecka
