Inside Machac’s rise: “I don’t have that many weak points” | ATP Tour

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Inside Machac’s rise: “I don’t have so many weak points”

The Czech and his coach talk about their success in the last year

January 02, 2025

Tomas Machac began his 2024 season as the No. 78 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Twelve months later, he has become one of the most dangerous competitors on the ATP Tour and the world number 25, the highest of his career. Not even he himself expected such a rapid promotion.

“I’m a little surprised to be in 25th place and to have had this kind of season,” Machac told ATPTour.com. “I don’t forget that I won a gold medal in [dobles mixtos en] the Olympic Games. So the season was amazing for me, really.”

Based on his performance so far at the United Cup, where the Czech tested Casper Ruud for nearly three hours and then defeated Hubert Hurkacz in three sets, Machac has no plans to slow down anytime soon. But although it hasn’t shown in his tennis, the 24-year-old had a preseason that, according to him, “wasn’t that good.”

The plan was to spend five or six weeks in his preseason preparing for 2025. After two weeks of training, he got sick and didn’t know what was wrong. The Czech was prescribed antibiotics, but was completely out of training for 14 days. Plans had to change.

Machac brought his fitness coach to Sydney and has been doing “a little more than I wanted” during this season-opening event to ensure he is adequately prepared for the tournaments to come.

“I was doing two tennis practices, and then one fitness practice, and then I was doing fitness, running and tennis and tennis. So I was a little tired, yes, but otherwise I wouldn’t have finished the match with Casper,” Machac said. “You have to play with the cards you have on the table. That’s why I’m very happy with the performance and the results I’ve achieved here, and that’s why I was so excited in the third set. [contra Hurkacz]because I realized that I am doing incredible things with my body and with the victory I was in paradise.”

“I’m here, I won a game and I was close to Casper. So I am very happy that I managed to get my health back. My body is getting better and better.”

A year ago, Machac needed to qualify for the ATP 250 event in Brisbane to start his season and had no wins against Top 10 opponents. But this is a new and improved player, and not just because of physical development, according to his coach and Czech captain Daniel Vacek.

“The most improved part [de su juego] is that he believes in himself, much more than he did in the past,” Vacek told ATPTour.com.

Getting four wins against a Top 10 team in one season certainly helped achieve that. Among the tough players he defeated in 2024 are Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (twice) and Stan Wawrinka.

“I think the season was incredible for me, to prove to myself that I can play against the best players and that I can win those games,” Machac said.

One win in particular stands out. At the Rolex Shanghai Masters, Machac advanced to his second ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal. On the other side of the net was Alcaraz, who was coming off a thrilling victory against Jannik Sinner in the final in Beijing. Undeterred, Machac produced arguably the best performance of his career to defeat the Spaniard 7-6 (5), 7-5.

“I feel like I was playing against a Top 5 player. His level was very high,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “I thought he was going to give me a chance, a window, but he didn’t.”

Although he has yet to win a title on the ATP Tour, Machac has proven that he is capable of rising to the occasion on the world’s biggest stages and against the toughest opponents.

“I like big tournaments and I like playing against the best players,” Machac said. “For me, it’s a great practice to push myself further and further.”

Vacek explained how big of an advantage that mentality is.

“He really loves playing on the center courts, on the big courts with a lot of people and against the best. “He really enjoys the best players, the best events and even the Davis Cup or the team competitions, he looks forward to them,” Vacek said. “He loves it. “He really wants to play and I think he does everything possible to get back there.”

As for tennis, Vacek, former world number 26 in singles and number 3 in doubles, added that Machac has improved his fitness, speed and agility. The coach said: “Everyone knows he has great talent, so when he combines all these things, he is very dangerous.”

But it is not one particular weapon that has stood out, according to Machac.

“I think I can play everything. In fact, I am very good with my service. So, in case I’m not serving well, I can be strong even at the baseline. Really, really strong,” Machac said.

“I can do everything I want on the court, and it also depends on the situation. So I think that’s my strength: I don’t have that many weaknesses.”

Machac hopes to prove that on Friday night when he leads the Czech Republic against Italy in the quarterfinals of the United Cup. In the men’s singles, he will face Flavio Cobolli, in the first Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup between the two.

“I am very happy with my physical condition, although I am not at 100 percent and I have not played the best tennis, I managed to find my rhythm,” Machac said. “I am very happy with the start of the year.”