Tomas Machac celebrated his first Tour-level title as he beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to triumph at the Acapulco Open. (More Tennis News)
༺Machac will break into the ATP's top 20 next week after a 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 victory over the Spaniard on Saturday.
✨Though he needed a tiebreak to win the first set, Machac completed the victory in only 97 minutes.
🐽"The emotions right now are just relief, because it was a tough week," said the Czech.
⛄"Especially when I have this form, I don't like to lose in the final. I'm really happy that I managed to win today because Alejandro was playing really, really well. It was a tough battle.
꧃"I was serving really well. I think without the serve today, I don't think [it would've] been two sets."
ไElsewhere, Sebastian Baez is one win away from back-to-back titles in South America.
🍒Baez, who won in Rio de Janeiro last week, beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-1 3-6 6-2 to progress to the final of the Chile Open.
༒The Argentine will take on Laslo Djere in the final on Sunday, as he aims to defend his title in Santiago, having also won the Rio Open in 2024.
Data Debrief: Serving up a storm
꧙Machac's serve was his big weapon, as he won 37 of his 39 (95%) first-serve points while striking 11 aces and offering up just one break point, which he saved.
♉The 24-year-old became the third Czech to claim an ATP 500 trophy, after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
💯Since last year's US Open, only three players have claimed more ATP match wins than Machac (24). They are Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz, so he is keeping some elite company.
ﷺIn Santiago, Baez became the eighth player born in the 21st century to record 100 ATP Tour-level match wins.
