Tomas Machak surprised Novak Djokovic by reaching his first ATP tournament final in Geneva | ATP Tour

Machak surprised Djokovic by reaching his first ATP Tour final in Geneva

The Czech won his second victory in the Top 10

May 24, 2024

Tomas Masak scored the biggest win of his career this Friday at Gonet Geneva, where he surprised world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to reach the ATP Tour final for the first time.

The Czech, attending his first semi-final on the circuit, managed to move with ease to keep up with Djokovic’s ball. The bout saw Machak come back from 1-4 down in the first set before being pinned by Djokovic in the second set. However, after missing seven games in a row from the Serbian, Macac responded by winning the last six games of the match to secure victory.

“I don’t have a word at the moment, I was fighting for any ball,” Machak said. “When you meet Novak, you have to trust. You have to try to play at your highest level and see what happens.”

Djokovic suffered physically and received medical attention at the end of the first set. The Balkan, who became the oldest semi-finalist in the tournament’s history, appeared to recover in the second set and regained his great mobility before faltering in the final stretch of the match.

The 98-title champion, who was looking for his first final of the season, will travel to Roland Garros to face Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round. Djokovic will look to maintain his top spot in the PIF ATP rankings in Paris, where Jannik Sinner could succeed him at the top of the tour.

Machak, who scored his first Top 10 win by defeating then world No. 6 Andrey Rublev in Miami, moved up 10 places to No. 34 in the PIF ATP Live rankings after his victory in Geneva.

The Czech held on from the baseline during his second Lexus ATP Head2Head match against Djokovic, playing deep to take control of the points. Macak attacked every time Djokovic made a short pass, scoring 21 goals and becoming the first Czech in the final in Geneva since Thomas Schmid in 1987. In the final this Saturday, Machak will face two-time champion Casper Ruud or Italian Flavio Cobolli.