Machac Becomes An ATP Tour Champion For First Time, Wins Acapulco Title

Tomas Machac
Tomas Machac (photo: Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC)

ACAPULCO/WASHINGTON, March 2, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

No. 8 seed Tomas Machac took on World No. 48 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the championship match at Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC Saturday evening in Acapulco with both players attempting to capture the first ATP Tour title of their respective careers.

While the World No. 25 Machac won their lone previous meeting at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai last October, which might have given him a slight edge when they met on this late-winter evening along the Mexican Pacific coast, the difference in their second head-to-head confrontation came down to Machac’s pin-point accuracy in his service games.

Machac won 95 percent (35 of 37) of his first-serve points – dropping just two points in 10 service games – and saved the only break point he faced. Added up, it proved to be a difference maker in his 7-6 (6), 6-2, victory over Davidovich Fokina that lasted an hour and 37 minutes. To the victor went the traditional sombrero.

At stake, the 24-year-old Machac became the third first-time ATP Tour champion this season, following France’s Alexandre Muller in Hong Kong and Joao Fonseca of Brazil in Buenos Aires.

Upon securing match point, Machac dropped to the ground in celebration, then got up quickly with a big smile on his face as he sprinted to the net to accept congratulations from his fallen opponent. He is the third Czech to win an ATP 500 trophy (since the series began in 2009), alongside former Top-10 players Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.

The newest Acapulco champion, Machac, became first player to win his first title above the ATP 250 level since American Ben Shelton at Tokyo in 2023.

“I arrived 13 days ago. I just went two days to the beach. I was really enjoying the tournament at that period and from that moment, I focused on the tennis court,” the soft-spoken Machac said in his remarks during the trophy ceremony. “Eleven straight days going to the club every day, leaving late. This is something that’s very hard to do, but this feeling is amazing.”

Through the first nine games of the match, both players had been lights out during their service games. Machac had won 16 of 16 of his first-serve points and dropped only two points on his serve overall, while Davidovich Fokina had garnered nine of 12 first-serve points. Neither faced a break point and three of Machac’s five service games resulted in love holds. His fifth ace secured him a 5-4 lead after 30 minutes of play, but Davidovich Fokina leveled the score at 5-all with a solid forehand winner that drew loud applause from the fans who filled Arena GNP Seguros on a clear, 25-degree Celsius March evening.

Machac held for 6-5 with a pair of aces – his sixth and seventh of the final – and guaranteed himself of a least a tie-break to decide the opening set. He gained a deuce in Davidovich Fokina’s next service game after the Spaniard netted an easy drop shot. However, Davidovich Fokina survived a 14-shot rally that was part of a 10-point 12th game to force a tiebreaker.

In the tie-break, Machac won the final two points after saving a set point, down 5-6, and pulled it out 8-6 to win the first set.

Machac, who won 100 percent of his first-serve points (24 of 24), hit 17 winners to 12 unforced errors, compared to 10 winners and 15 unforced errors by Davidovich Fokina. Machac outpointed Davidovich Fokina 44-34. Neither player faced a break point the entire set.

As the second set unfolded, Davidovich Fokina saved a break point at 30-40 and held for 2-1 as the match reached the 75-minute mark. Machac, who would win 29 consecutive first-serve points before finally dropping one, countered with his 10th ace to hold for 2-all. The margins during each service game remained very tight and there was little to no room for error.

Next, Machac took advantage of a break point and seized the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead after Davidovich Fokina netted a forehand return that killed a seven-shot rally. He consolidated the break after Davidovich Fokina sent a backhand return wide left and it gave Machac a 4-2 lead – needing to win just two more games to earn the reward of his first ATP Tour title.

In the next game, Machac gained another break point at 30-40 after Davidovich Fokina struck a forehand return into the net. He seized the opportunity and won the game after the Spaniard hit a fifth-shot backhand wide ride that gave Machac a 5-2 advantage. He only had to hold his serve to reap the title reward for his effort.

Soon, Machac served out the 97-minute, straight-set masterpiece victory by winning on his second match-point opportunity, after he double-faulted on his first match point try.

En route to his first title, Machac defeated fellow Czech Jakub Mensik in three sets, Daniel Altmaier of Germany in straight sets, American qualifier Learner Tien in straight sets in the quarterfinal round, and Brandon Nakashima of the United States in three sets in the semifinal round. At the start of the tournament, Machac was the highest-ranked player on the ATP Tour never to have won a title. A year ago, he was ranked 65th in the world. Now, the Czech No. 1 will crack the Top-20 at No. 20 when the new PIF ATP Rankings come out on Monday.

With an unrelenting quality behind his serving, Machac finished the final with 11 aces, struck 29 winners and made 20 unforced errors. He converted two of three break points and outpointed Davidovich Fokina 76-56.

“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,” Machac said after accepting his first ATP Tour trophy, in reference to his coach Daniel Vacek. “So I will try to speak more often.”

It was another heartbreaking moment for the proud, 25-year-old Davidovich Fokina, who despite generally playing well – 20 winners to 31 unforced errors – was just overwhelmed by Machac’s superb service games. Now 0-3 in ATP Tour finals, he will move up nine spots to No. 39.

Davidovich Fokina offered praise to Machac during the trophy ceremony. He said: “Tomas, congratulations for your first title. I don’t know how you feel right now – I’ve never won a title – but, for sure, it’s amazing. Congrats to you and your team. You are doing an amazing job. It’s incredible how you managed on court all the feelings and pressures.”

Qualifiers Harrison and King win second ATP 500 doubles title

Qualifiers Christian Harrison and Evan King of the United States won their second ATP 500 title of the season following their earlier triumph last month at the Dallas Open. On Saturday evening, Harrison and King defeated No. 4 seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France, 6-4, 6-0, in 56 minutes.

The American duo improved to 10-2 on tour level, after making their team debut last November on the Challenger Tour – going 7-1 and winning a title at Temuco. Acapulco represented their fourth ATP Tour event and third final this year as a pair. Harrison and King made their ATP Tour debut last month in Montpellier before going on to win the Dallas Open title, then reaching the Delray Beach final.

Evan King and Christian Harrison

Evan King and Christian Harrison (photo: Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC)

Against Doumbia and Reboul, Harrison and King combined to hit five aces and won 84 percent of their first-serve points. They faced no break points on their serve and converted four of five break-point opportunities. Harrison and King outpointed their opponents 51-33.

Harrison and King became the fourth U.S. pair to win the Acapulco doubles title. The last Americans to win the event were brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, who won in 2002 and 2004. They also joined Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy as the only teams with multiple ATP Tour titles this season.

Meanwhile, French duo Doumbia and Reboul dropped to 10-8 this season and are 87-69 as a team after making their debut at the French Open in 2021.

Around the Abierto Mexicano Telcel

As an exciting week of tennis winds up in Acapulco, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, in a news conference at Arena GNP Seguros, Mextenis, the country’s governing body of tennis, said it was proud of an unexpected quarterfinals with four Mexican representatives between singles and doubles, and a hotel occupancy of 92 percent for the weekend.

All of that is testimony to a great recovery from Hurricane Otis, a compact but very powerful tropical cyclone which made a devastating landfall in October 2023 near Acapulco as a Category 5 hurricane and did considerable damage to the tournament’s infrastructure and facilities. Then, Hurricane John, a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that caused deadly flooding and record rainfall across southern Mexico for several days, hit in September 2024.

“Not to forget what we were all concerned about and occupied us from the beginning: Acapulco. Today Acapulco is back, today Acapulco has full hotels, full restaurants and is on its feet, after Otis, after John and we are going to have for this weekend a hotel occupancy close to 92 percent. We went back from having 19 thousand rooms before Otis, to more than 2 thousand last year and today we are close to 15 thousand,” Director of Operations Jose Antonio Fernandez said at a press conference this week.

The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC has truly been one of Acapulco’s recovery engines. It has generated 11,000 direct and indirect jobs and has represented between 10-15 percent of the annual income of the sector in the state, according to Simón Quiñones, Secretary of Tourism of Guerrero.

Alvaro Falla, CEO of Mextenis and the tournament’s director, said: “There is no concern that anything out of the ordinary is happening or that worries us from a viral point of view. We’ve had a very good week and this sometimes happens in tournaments. The week is still very important for Acapulco and it is incredible to have so many Mexicans.

“Each tournament tells a different story and we have several positives to highlight this year.”

Looking back, this year’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel will be remembered by the surprising impact made by 355th-ranked Mexican wild card Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez. The 19-year-old Mexican teenager won his opening match over Aleksandar Vukic, then advanced to the quarterfinal round after his second-round opponent, World No. 5 and second seed Casper Ruud, withdrew due to illness. Pacheco Mendez was eliminated by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday evening.

“For me it was a very good week. It has been the best week of my whole life, there were many emotions. Yes, I enjoyed it. I feel like I’m dreaming, but I think I lacked to believe it a little bit more, but this helps me to keep growing,” said Pacheco Mendez, who will rise to No. 231 in the new PIF ATP Rankings on Monday, an improvement of 124 spots.

By the numbers

Tomas Machac is the fourth Czech ATP 500 finalist (since the series began in 2009) after Tomas Berydych (six times), Radek Stepanek (2009 Memphis and 2011 Washington, D.C.) and Jiri Vesely (2022 Dubai).

“Quotable …”

“Obviously, it would be very special. If I manage to win, it would be a great honor to join the list of players [who have previously won in Acapulco]. In the end, the first title is always special, no matter where you get it. If I have the opportunity to achieve it here, it would certainly be even more meaningful to me.”

– Unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, speaking after his semifinal victory over No. 9 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada, which advanced him to his second ATP Tour final this season.

 

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