Tomas Machac

Tomas Machac is the Czech who outgrew the doubles label. Born in Beroun in Central Bohemia and drawn to the sport watching his older sister Kateřina compete, he began training at TK Sparta Prague from age eight, turned pro in 2017, and ground through the Challenger circuit before breaking into the top 100 in time for the 2022 year-end list. A rib injury cost him April through August of 2022, slowing a climb that only fully caught fire in 2024.

The right-hander, still coached by former ATP player Daniel Vacek, is a clean, flat ball-striker built around a heavy two-handed backhand, with the foot speed to redirect pace and the racquet-head creativity to manufacture angles on the run. He scales up against the best — the kind of player whose ceiling shows most when the opponent across the net is ranked higher than he is.

The proof is in the marquee wins. In 2024 he reached his first ATP final in Geneva, beating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic en route before falling to Casper Ruud, then upset No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz to reach the Shanghai Masters semifinals — a run that also took out Andrey Rublev. The defining trophy came in mixed doubles: partnering Kateřina Siniaková, he won Olympic gold at Paris 2024, saving two match points in a three-set final. In March 2025 he captured his first ATP title at the Mexican Open in Acapulco and rose to a career-high No. 20 — the first Czech man in the top 20 since Berdych in 2018.

Now ranked 43, Machac is working back toward that peak. The tools that beat Djokovic and Alcaraz haven't gone anywhere; the task is converting flashes against elite opponents into the week-to-week consistency that keeps a player inside the top 20.