Machac halts Dimitrov's indoor form with gripping Vienna win

Tomas Machac handed Grigor Dimitrov a major setback in his quest to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday at the Erste Bank Open.

The Czech held his nerve to prevail 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3, in an absorbing second-round clash in Vienna. Dimitrov appeared to be mounting a gutsy comeback at the beginning of the deciding set, but Machac found a burst of energy to cross the line in two hours, 29 minutes.

“It was a great match and I am really happy that I could play against him, because I was watching him a lot on the TV when I was young,” said Machac, who triumphed in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“I am really happy with my performance and I think that both players [played well].”

In the ZONE ??

Machac completes the turnaround against Dimitrov to advance to the final 8 in Vienna ?#ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen
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Dimitrov, who leads the Tour in indoor wins in 2024 (11-5), remains 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, trailing eight-placed Andrey Rublev by 570 points.

After exchanging breaks of serve in a tight start, both players raised their levels in a dazzling tie-break. With some scintillating tennis, Dimitrov clawed his way back from 3/5, rattling off four consecutive points to steal the opening set.

Machac bided his time in the second set before pouncing in the 10th game to level the match at one set apiece. The Czech capitalised on the momentum shift and produced some of his most emphatic tennis to book his place in an eighth ATP Tour quarter-final.

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Machac will next face Jack Draper, who wasted little time in advancing to his 16th tour-level quarter-final as he breezed past Luciano Darderi in just 76 minutes.

The seventh seed, who won 7-5, 6-1, was particularly dialled in on serve throughout the encounter, during which he won 91 per cent (31/34) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

This was highlighted in the 12th game, when Draper fired four consecutive aces to close out the opening set. In the second, Draper clicked into gear on return to dismantle the Italian’s serve on three occasions.

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