ATP GENEVA – Tomáš Macháč (23) achieved his first winning streak on clay courts this year at the last general in Geneva. At the last minute, the Czech favorite started to turn the fight against the qualifier and 140th ranked player Nicolas Moren De Alboran (26) and eventually defeated the American 4:6, 7:5, 6:0. He will fight for his first semi-final on the highest circuit with another American representative, Alex Michelsen (19). Novak Djokovic, who on his 37th birthday recorded his 1100th win, made a victorious entry into the general round at Roland Garros.
Moreno De Alboran – Macháč 6:4, 5:7, 0:6
Tomáš Macháč has been ill twice in the last few weeks and in Geneva he will attend only his third clay tournament this season. While he did not start the second round match in Barcelona and was beaten by Ben Shelton at the Masters in Madrid, he defeated Nicolas Moreno De Alboran in the Swiss capital and followed up with the scalp of seeded Jack Draper.
He had a lot of trouble with the qualifier from the second hundred of the rankings, and only managed to get through the first break point chance at the end of the second set. He didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, but from then on he clearly had the upper hand. In the rest of the second act, from 4:5, he lost only one fifteenth game and in a very fast decisive set he gave the outsider a humiliating canary.
Match statistics. (@livesport)
Macháč is playing his 10th tournament this year in Geneva and only left Adelaide at the beginning of January without a win. On Thursday, he will try to break the streak of quarterfinal failures on the highest circuit.
He has fought for the semi-finals at this level four times so far and has not succeeded even once. He did not find the recipe last year against Yannick Hanfmann in Houston or Lasl Djere in Stockholm, and he did not succeed in the quarter-final stage this year in Marseille against Hubert Hurkacz and at the Masters in Miami in a duel with Jannik Sinner.
Another American will be his quarterfinal opponent in the Swiss capital. Surprisingly, it was not Taylor Fritz, seeded three, but Alex Michelsen, who defeated the more successful compatriot 6:4, 4:6, 7:5.
Djokovic – Hanfmann 6:3, 6:3
The winner of 24 Grand Slams, Novak Djokovic, will unusually attend the opener at Roland Garros just a few days before its opening in Geneva, and he managed his debut without any major difficulties. He beat Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-3 in a rain-delayed match of about an hour, turning away 10 of 11 break points to end the match with a six-game winning streak.
For today’s 37th birthday, the Serbian tennis player wrapped a present in the form of a jubilee 1100th win. Only the legendary American Jimmy Connors (1274) and the Swiss Roger Federer (1251) have reached this goal.
“My birthday wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t win today. It’s nice to play in this tournament for the first time, and to have the support of my family behind me. I grew up with my uncle, aunt and two cousins most of my life. Now there aren’t many chances to see each other, so it’s nice to meet them again” praised Djokovic after successfully launching an attack on his first title of the year and 99th title overall.
Winning on your birthday like… @DjokerNole defeats Hanfmann 6-3 6-3 for the ultimate birthday gift! #ATPGVA pic.twitter.com/YTteYi9FwW
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 22, 2024
Results of the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva
Article originally published for Livesport News.
2024-05-22 20:15:00
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