Fifth seed reaches the last 16 after a three-set test
Alex de Minaur recovered from a heavy first-set defeat to beat Tomas Machac 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Monday, October 26. The fifth-seeded Australian advanced to the last 16 of the ATP 500 tournament at the Wiener Stadthalle.
Machac, who had come through qualifying, established control with aggressive groundstrokes and won the opening set in emphatic fashion. De Minaur then raised his level in the rallies and found enough consistency to take the second set 6–4.
The Czech again started the deciding set well, according to the tournament's match report, but errors gave de Minaur a route back. The Australian took advantage and completed the turnaround. The official results service recorded a match duration of just under two hours and three minutes.
The final score concealed how closely the contest was balanced overall. Sofascore recorded 81 points won by Machac and 79 by de Minaur, while each player won 13 games. De Minaur's advantage was in winning two sets, showing why a tennis result cannot be judged simply by the total number of points collected.
The victory keeps the Australian in the indoor hard-court event after an immediate test from a qualifier. He progressed on a day when Matteo Berrettini also advanced, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6–3, 6–4. Jakub Mensik defeated Austrian qualifier Lukas Neumayer 6–2, 6–2.
De Minaur's next match will be in the second round. His opening result gives him the chance to build on the recovery, but the first-set score is a reminder of how quickly an unseeded opponent can take control in these conditions.