Machac’s magical streak continues, into Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes final
The Air Machete reaches his second consecutive UTS final
Tomas Machac, Nîmes 2025 | © Tennis Majors
Tomas Machac’s incredible unbeaten run in the UTS format continues – he is into the final of Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes, having beaten Alex “The Demon” de Minaur in sudden death, 12-13, 12-11, 6-20, 17-13, 2-1.
It was an enthralling and extremely close contest – with The Demon having match point in the shoot-out, and The Air Machete ultimately taking it to maintain his flawless record in UTS, having won in his debut in Guadalajara earlier this year.
“Just one ball, honestly,” Machac said when asked what the win came down to.
“So it was very close match from the beginning. It was close in the first quarter, close in the second quarter, and, yeah, and then sudden death, so I just try to enjoy to to play here first time on clay. So it’s not easy, but enjoying that!”
De Minaur agreed, saying: “I think I had many, many chances. I just didn’t play the important points well today, and that was the difference.”
The Australian had taken the first quarter as he looked to move into the final and battle for a record third UTS title, but was frustrated to drop the second quarter on a deciding point.
He channelled that at the start of the third, racing to a 5-0 lead, and stretched his advantage despite flashes of brilliance from Machac.
“I’m very pleased – that’s what it’s all about, not letting points before affect you for the future,” De Minaur said before the final quarter.
But Machac levelled things up to force the sudden-death decider – and it was he who held his nerve to secure his place in the final later on Saturday, where he will play either Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud or Andrey “Rublo” Rublev.
