From Paris to Paris: after a foot injury, Machac earns his reward, Fils in a packed arena
Beaten in Paris at Roland-Garros in May before a foot injury, Tomas Machac is back in Paris on a three-match winning run. The Czech qualifier, who says he plays to enjoy the match rather than for results, faces sixth seed Arthur Fils and a home crowd at La Défense.
Tomas Machac, Paris, November 3rd 2026 | © Alice Jacquesa pour Tennis Majors
“The type of match we’re working for.” Professional players often use these words, and qualifier Tomas Machac is one of them today. The Czech will face sixth seed Arthur Fils of France on Court Central in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters, the prize for a week that has pulled him out of a hard stretch of his season.
He beat French wildcard Kyrian Jacquet 7-6 (7), 6-1 on Monday for his third straight win, after coming through qualifying. He did not drop serve. It was the first main-draw win by a Czech player in Paris since Tomas Berdych reached the quarter-finals in 2016, according to the ATP. Speed, agility: the Machac who reached No. 20 in March 2025 is not far away.
Talking to Tennis Majors after his first-round win on Monday, he distanced himself from that kind of pressure. “It’s not like I’m searching for victories or points or money,” he said. “I just try to enjoy the match, like today.”
Machac’s long way back from a foot injury
The Czech knows the price of being fit and competitive. His season split in two. Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Machac 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of Roland-Garros in May. He then missed three months with a foot injury.
He came back at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 in August, where Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain beat him 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match. At the US Open, Britain’s Toby Samuel beat him 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. In Beijing, Alex Molcan of Slovakia beat him 6-3, 6-2.
The autumn brought closer defeats, but the level was coming back. Karen Khachanov beat him 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7) in Almaty. A week later in Vienna, Australia’s Alex de Minaur came back from a set down to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Machac arrived in Paris with two wins from nine main-draw matches since his return. The qualifying turned that around. He beat Martin Landaluce of Spain 6-4, 6-3, then top seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina 6-2, 6-4.
Against Jacquet, he won three matches in a row for the first time since January. That month, he had won the Adelaide title by beating Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2 in the final.
Machac’s process: the right shot at the right time
He hit 15 aces against Jacquet and held all 10 of his service games, but he did not describe it as easy. “It’s not like I’m sailing through my service games,” he said. “What is great is that I manage to focus and to find the serve on the right spot, or the right forehand, when it’s most important.”
“My level is growing and feeling greater and greater,” he said. “Physically I feel great, mentally I feel good, I feel the tennis is there.”
Machac knows how to beat the best. In 2024, he beat four top-10 players, including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Geneva and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in Shanghai. But he has lost his last 10 matches against the top 10, five of them this season, since beating No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov in Vienna in 2024.
A win over Fils would make him the first Czech in the third round in Paris since Berdych in 2016.
Fils, a home crowd and a first time at La Défense
Fils, ranked No. 7, opens his tournament after a first-round bye. He won their only previous meeting, 6-4, 6-4 on grass in Halle in 2024.
The Frenchman can qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals as early as Wednesday. According to the ATP, he will be through if he beats Machac and Tomas Martin Etcheverry beats Alex de Minaur. He will also qualify if Quentin Halys beats Frances Tiafoe, if Molcan beats Taylor Fritz, or if Rinky Hijikata beats Djokovic and Etcheverry beats de Minaur. He would be the first Frenchman to qualify since Gael Monfils in 2016.
Fils already holds a French record this season, with 21 wins at Masters 1000 level, two more than Monfils in 2016. He is also the first Frenchman to be seeded in the top eight in Paris since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the sixth seed in 2013.
He has never played the tournament in its new home. “It’s the first year I’m playing here, I’ve never set foot on these courts,” he said on Sunday. “Since the start of the season, I’ve been waiting to play in Paris. I don’t know if the atmosphere will be as crazy as at Bercy, but the arena is huge.”
“If I can have the backing of the crowd, the support of the crowd, it will help me a lot,” he added. “So I’m very, very impatient.”
Machac has already had a taste of a crowd against him, with Jacquet on Monday. “Even when the crowd was against me, I was grateful that I could be in this position, to face these kinds of tough conditions, because that’s how I grow as a player,” he said.
Machac and Fils’ section of the Paris draw
In the third round, the winner will face Molcan or 11th seed Taylor Fritz, who came from a set down to beat Benjamin Bonzi 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday.
Tomas Machac and Arthur Fils’ section of the Rolex Paris Masters draw
| First round | Second round | Third round | Quarter-final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6Arthur FilsFRA | A. Fils 6 | Wednesday | Thursday |
| Bye | |||
| WCKyrian JacquetFRA | T. Machac7-6 (7), 6-1 | ||
| QTomas MachacCZE | |||
| QAlex MolcanSVK | A. Molcan4-6, 6-4, 6-4 | Wednesday | |
| WCTitouan DroguetFRA | |||
| QBenjamin BonziFRA | T. Fritz 113-6, 6-3, 6-4 | ||
| 11Taylor FritzUSA |
Seeds next to the names, Q: qualifier, WC: wildcard. FRA: French players. Days are those of the matches still to be played. The player in the last column reaches the quarter-finals on Friday. Scroll sideways on mobile.
