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Match Details
Fixture: (17) Frances Tiafoe vs Tomas Machac
Date: January 17, 2024
Tournament: Australian Open 2024
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard (Outdoor)
Prize Money: A$86,500,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Sports & Sony Liv
Frances Tiafoe vs Tomas Machac preview
Seventeenth seed Frances Tiafoe will lock horns with Tomas Machac in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open on Wednesday (January 17).
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Tiafoe was handed a tough draw as he faced former top-20 player Borna Coric in the first round. The American was the first to face a break point in the opening set, but fended it off for a hold of serve.
Tiafoe then went on a three-game run from 3-3 onwards to clinch the opener. He then rallied from 2-0 down in the second set and even saved a set point at 6-5 to force a tie-break. The American erased another set point in it to take the set.
Despite losing a close second set, Coric didn't fade away. He reeled off five straight games from 2-1 in the third set to keep himself afloat in the match. The Croat initially recovered from a break deficit in the fourth set, but was unable to repeat the feat.
Tiafoe broke Coric's serve for the second time in the eighth game of the set to go 5-3 up. He then served out the match with ease to wrap up a 6-3, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3 win.
Machac, meanwhile, was drawn against qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki in the first round. The opening set was on the cusp of reaching a tie-break, but the Czech broke his opponent's serve in the final game of the set to claim it.
The second set was quite one-sided as Machac nabbed it for the loss of just one game. He led by a break in the third set too only to squander his lead. The Czech then saved a couple of set points at 5-4, after which he bagged the next two games as well to win the match 7-5, 6-1, 7-5.
Frances Tiafoe vs Tomas Machac head-to-head
Tiafoe leads Machac 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2023 United Cup in straight sets.
Frances Tiafoe vs Tomas Machac odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Frances Tiafoe vs Tomas Machac prediction
Tiafoe was put to the test by Coric, but bested the Croat to emerge victorious. He hit 44 winners in all, with his error count being marginally higher than that. He was quite adept at the net too, as he won 27/37 points when he moved forward.
Machac didn't face too many hiccups in his opener. He had a pretty decent day on serve as he won 78% of his first-serve points and got broken just once throughout the match.
However, Machac is yet to defeat a top-20 player and has lost all nine of his prior matches against them. Tiafoe's likely to boss him around in most of the baseline rallies given his ground game. The American should be able to build upon his impressive start here to progress further.
Pick: Frances Tiafoe to win in straight sets.
