Machac rallies from 0-5 down in fifth set to earn stunning Wimbledon win

pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tomas-machac/m0fh/overview'Tomas Machac/a will not soon forget his start to the 2024 edition of The Championships. /p

pOriginally scheduled to face a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a on Centre Court in the first round before the former World No. 1's withdrawal, Machac rallied from 0-5 in the fifth set to defeat lucky loser a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/david-goffin/gb88/overview'David Goffin/a 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(10-5) on Wednesday./p

pldquo;It was a really tough match today,rdquo; Machac told ATPTour.com. ldquo;Irsquo;m grateful that I can manage to win this match in the fifth, especially when I was losing 0-5. This match will forever stay in mind.rdquo;/p

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pMachac had his back against the wall for much of the match, which was contested over two days. Goffin took a 6-3, 4-2 lead before play was suspended Tuesday evening. Machac lost the first two sets and trailed by a break on three separate occasions in the third set./p

pBut the No. 39 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who did not face a match point, rallied past the 2017 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a runner-up in three hours and 17 minutes. Both men earned nine service breaks in the match./p

pldquo;I was still trying to play my game and I was believing that at least I could break him once, and let's see what was going to happen after,rdquo; Machac said. ldquo;I had the chances to break him for the second time in a row and I took the chance and completely turned the match to my side.rdquo;/p

pOn dealing with the change of opponent and rain, Machac said: ldquo;It is what it is. The players have to be ready for everything with the rain and with the change of the opponent. I think I handled it quite decently and today conditions were I think a little bit better for me than yesterday.rdquo; /p

pMachac will next play 2023 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a quarter-finalist a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roman-safiullin/sx50/overview'Roman Safiullin/a, who also advanced from two sets down. Safiullin eliminated 26th seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/francisco-cerundolo/c0au/overview'Francisco Cerundolo/a 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4./p

pAustralian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/thanasi-kokkinakis/kd46/overview'Thanasi Kokkinakis/a also produced one of a record-tying eight comebacks in a first-round of a Grand Slam in the Open Era when he upset 17th-seeded Canadian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/felix-auger-aliassime/ag37/overview'Felix Auger-Aliassime/a 4-6, 5-7, 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-4 in four hours, 38 minutes. He next will play Frenchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lucas-pouille/pf39/overview'Lucas Pouille/a./p

pKokkinakis saved four match points in a dramatic third-set tie-break, which he led 5/0 before Auger-Aliassime won six consecutive points to earn his first match point, which the Australian fended off with his 19th ace of the match./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p