Intense focus helps Tomas Machac over finish line in Vienna, clinch Grigor Dimitov upset

Aside from an illness that forced him to retire in Almaty, Tomas Machac has been hyper-focused throughout this fall swing, his latest big result coming at the Erste Bank Open with a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over Grigor Dimitrov.

The 24-year-old Czech reached back-to-back semifinals in Tokyo and Shanghai—the latter a Masters 1000 event—and Machac has snapped back into that form in Vienna, outlasting the No. 3 seed and a player he grew up watching in two hours and 29 minutes on Center Court.

“I’m really happy I can play against the best ones, especially like a Grigor,” said Machac, who is nine years younger than the former world No. 3. “I was really happy with my performance, and I think both players because I think Grigor was playing also good. It was a great match and I was really happy I could play against him because I was watching him on television when I was really young.”

So focused was Machac he won a game in the second set without even realizing, umpire Fergus Murphy teasing him after announcing the score:

“You want to keep playing?” he asked a smiling Machac.

Down a set but on serve in the second, he remained on court for another hour and 15 minutes to earn his fourth Top 10 victory in Vienna.

He earned a statement victory earlier this spring against Novak Djokovic, defeating the 24-time Grand Slam champion on clay in Geneva, and slid into Olympic gold in mixed doubles with on-again/off-again partner Katerina Siniakova.

Now ranked just below a career-high ranking of No. 25, Machac is building a resume longer than his notoriously short shorts, and will next face No. 7 seed Jack Draper for a possible third semifinal since September.

“It’s a great moment for me and I’m looking forward to the next matches,” said Machac, who owns an even 1-1 head-to-head with Draper—through it was the Brit who won their most recent meeting last month at the US Open.

For Dimitrov, the defeat hinders his chances of returning to the ATP Finals, an event he won back in 2017. Currently ranked No. 10 in the PIF Race to Turin, the Bulgarian trails both Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur, who are both still able to earn points in Basel and Vienna, respectively.