"A little weird, I wouldn't do that" - Rafael Nadal's Madrid 4R opponent Jiri Lehecka takes a different route to Pedro Cachin in shirt-gifting drama

Jiri Lehecka recently shared his thoughts on whether he would've liked Rafael Nadal's shirt as a gift had he lost to the Spaniard in their Madrid Open clash on Tuesday (April 30).

Lehecka was in top gear during his fourth-round outing against the 22-time Major winner, beating him 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the last eight at the Caja Magica. The Czech will next face World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev for a place in the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid.

Speaking to Punto de Break following his breakout victory, Jiri Lehecka was quizzed on if he would've asked for Rafael Nadal's shirt in the hypothetical case that he lost their fourth-round match at the Madrid Open on Tuesday.

Pedro Cachin, who went out to the 37-year-old in the third round of the event a day prior, had drawn flak from a British journalist after the Argentine had expressed his admiration for his victor and asked for his shirt during their net embrace.

In that context, the 22-year-old Czech expressed hesitation in going through with a similar request. He was admittedly very focused on beating Nadal, so he didn't even want to consider the prospect of asking for the latter's shirt in case he lost their fourth-round match.

"I don't know. Maybe, it's hard for me to say, because I went out on the track to win," Jiri Lehecka told Punto de Break. "If you go out to win, it's hard for me to go after him and ask him if he can give me something. I don't know, I don't want to. It might sound disrespectful, but it's the last thing I would do.

"If you're playing a game and you're thinking about asking your opponent to give you something, I mean, why are you there?" he added. "It's a little weird, in my opinion. You can have your opinion on this topic, and I totally respect what Pedro did. It's great for me, I have no problem with it, but I wouldn't do something like that."

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Jiri Lehecka on wanting Rafael Nadal's match outfit: "Maybe I would do it after the whole tournament"

Rafael Nadal (L) and Jiri Lehecka shake hands after their Madrid Open 4R match

Jiri Lehecka did concede, however, that he had no problem asking for Rafael Nadal's shirt at the end of the Madrid Open. The World No. 31 also disclosed that he had taken a selfie with the 22-time Major winner after a practice session earlier during the fortnight.

"Maybe I would do it after the whole tournament, I don't know, when I see him at some point, or ask him for a photo, like I did after our training. That's what I did, because I didn't know if I would have the opportunity to play with him again or if we would play a game together," Jiri Lehecka said. "If we talk about asking him for a shirt, I don't know, he wouldn't go out to the game with that intention, I just have a different approach to this issue."

Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, will next play at the Italian Open, which begins on May 8. The Spaniard will be keen on getting a good level of match fitness during the Masters-level event before playing what will most likely be his final French Open later in the month.