Novak Djokovic's bid to avoid his earliest Australian Open exit since 2017 faces a stern test against Tomas Machac in Friday's third-round match.
The Serbian superstar, seeking a historic 25th Grand Slam success, has been far from his best Down Under in rounds one and two, and he faces an opponent with the tools to hurt his prospects of an 11th major at the event and 100th ATP Tour title.
Match preview
© Imago
A new record seems to tumble every time Djokovic steps onto the court at Slams these days, and Wednesday was no different, as the Serbian surpassed Roger Federer for most Grand Slam singles matches played in the Open Era (430) and emulated Serena Williams for most victories secured at the majors after turning 30 (150).
Regardless, the 24-time Slam winner knows full well that standards must improve if he is to avoid an early exit at the opening leading event of 2025, having required four sets to defeat American wild card and Slam debutant Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round and Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria in round two.
Both opponents intermittently had the 37-year-old on the ropes in those encounters, and players of a higher standard might have exploited the 99-time ATP Tour champion's imperfect performances.
Having admitted to knowing little about Basavareddy after sealing a tournament-opening success and extolling Faria for his bravado even on second serves on Wednesday, Djokovic knows all about Machac, having suffered defeat in the pair's previous meeting in Geneva last year.
Keen to avoid his earliest exit Down Under since a 2017 round-two defeat by Denis Istomin, the sport's greatest player, who has advanced to the title match four times and made the semis last year in his past five appearances, must raise his level to avoid consecutive third-round exits at Slams after last year's shock loss at the US Open against Alexei Popyrin.
© Imago
Beating Machac will be far from straightforward, especially given the outcome of their previous meeting on the clay courts of Geneva last year in the lead-up to the 2024 French Open.
Defeating Djokovic, the top-ranked player on the men's tour at the time, was the Czechia player's biggest career success, and he aims for a repeat triumph despite the Serbian's slide in the rankings to seventh.
The 26th seed may have withdrawn due to knee issues at the United Cup at the turn of the year but has demonstrated impressive ball-striking and battling qualities in rounds one and two, with Wednesday's five-set success over Reilly Opelka a tale of three tiebreaks.
Having lost the opening set, the next three went to a shootout, with the 24-year-old outwitting his American opponent in sets two and four before sealing his comeback 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4 victory.
Arguably the strongest player outside the top 10 – as evidenced by his 17 tour-level wins since last year's US Open surpassing every player outside the elite except Jiri Lehecka (18) – one of the form players on tour aims to stun the sport's greatest star to secure a fourth-round spot Down Under for the first time.
Tournament so far
Novak Djokovic:
First round: vs. Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2
Second round: vs. Jaime Faria 6-1 6-7[4] 6-3 6-2
Tomas Machac:
First round: vs. Sumit Nagal 6-3 6-1 7-5
Second round: vs. Reilly Opelka 3-6 7-6[1] 6-7[5] 7-6[4] 6-4
Head To Head
Geneva Open (2024) - Semi-final: Machac 6-4 0-6 6-1
Dubai (2023) - Round of 32: Djokovic 6-3 3-6 7-6(1)
Although both men will battle for the third time on the ATP Tour, their imminent match in Australia represents their first at a Grand Slam, with Friday's victor taking a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head.
Machac secured four top-10 victories last season, defeating Andrey Rublev in Miami, Djokovic in Geneva, Carlos Alcaraz in Shanghai and Grigor Dimitrov in Vienna; three of those triumphs were on hard courts.
We say: Machac to win in five sets
Albeit in best-of-three encounters, previous match-ups between Djokovic and Machac have gone the distance, and Friday's third-round meeting Down Under should be no different.
Despite his expertise at Melbourne Park, the Serbian's level has been uncharacteristically average in rounds one and two, suggesting a shock could be on the cards.
Machac packs a punch from the baseline and has what it takes to stun the 24-time Grand Slam champion if he executes at a high level, and we are backing the intense Czech player to oust the 99-time ATP Tour champion.
