Vienna 2023: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thomas Machac preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Erste Bank Open
Match Details
Fixture: (4) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (Q) Tomas Machac
Date: October 26, 2023
Tournament: Erste Bank Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Venue: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Indoor hardcourt
Prize money: €2,409,835
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Tomas Machac preview
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will face off against qualifier Tomas Machac in the second round of the 2023 Erste Bank Open on Thursday.
Tsitsipas took on 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem in his tournament opener. Neither player got a whiff of a breakpoint in the first set, leading to a tie-break. The Greek gained the upper hand in it to take the set.
Thiem held three break points on Tsitsipas' serve early on in the second set, but wasted his chances. It proved to be costly as the Greek didn't make the same mistake and secured a break of serve to take a 3-1 lead. He maintained the lead and soon won the match 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Machac came through the qualifiers in Vienna to book his place in the main draw, where he was up against Aleksandar Vukic in the first round. Both looked quite sharp in the first set, though the Czech capitalized on a minor stumble from his opponent.
Machac nabbed the decisive break in the sixth game of the opener, which sealed the set in his favor. He raised his level even more going forward and dropped just one game in the second set to score a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Tomas Machac head-to-head
The two have not crossed paths on the ATP tour prior to this, so the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Tomas Machac odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Tomas Machac prediction
Tsitsipas withstood a tough challenge from Thiem before defeating him for the third time this year. The latter always brings his best against the former, but came up short yet again. The Greek was the better player in key moments, which helped him secure the win.
Tsitsipas won 81 percent of his first serve points and struck a total of 31 winners. Machac, on the other hand, made light work of Vukic. He didn't drop his serve even once and wrapped up the match in less than an hour.
Tsitsipas made it to the semifinals in singles and won the doubles title in Antwerp last week. After weeks of underwhelming results, his performance there came as a much-needed respite.
While Machac was quite impressive against Vukic in the last round, it was just his seventh main draw win on the ATP tour this season. The Czech is capable of playing at a high level but has been way too inconsistent this year. As such, Tsitsipas will be favored to continue his campaign in Vienna.
Pick: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in straight sets.