Tomas Machac sealed a milestone week in Acapulco on Saturday when he claimed his first tour-level trophy at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
The 24-year-old, set to make his Top 20 debut in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings, defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(6), 6-2 in a heavy-hitting final.
The eighth seed was nearly untouchable on serve, winning 29 consecutive first-serve points before surrendering one early in the second set. He finished the one-hour, 37-minute match having won 37 of 39 first-serve points (95 per cent), according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Machac is the third Czech to claim an ATP 500 trophy (series began in 2009), alongside former Top 10 players Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
“The emotions right now are just relief, because it was a tough week. Especially when I have this form, I don’t like to lose in the final,” Machac said. “I’m really happy that I managed to win today because Alejandro was playing really, really good. It was a tough battle.
“I was serving really well. I think without the serve today, I don’t think [it would’ve] been two sets.”
Entering the week, Machac was the highest-ranked player without a tour-level title. He has moved up five places to No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Machac was World No. 65 just 12 months ago.
“I told [my coach] two weeks ago that I struggle sometimes with the big matches and I don’t know how to manage these situations… So I will try to speak more often,” Machac said with a laugh when thanking his coach Daniel Vacek in the trophy presentation.
Machac improved to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Davidovich Fokina, having defeated the 25-year-old last year in Shanghai. Davidovich Fokina was competing in his third tour-level final and second this season (Delray Beach).
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