Tomas Machac upset No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 in the Gonet Geneva Open semifinals on Friday in Switzerland.
The roller-coaster match saw Machac rally from a 1-4 deficit to win the opening set, only to get blanked by the 24-time Grand Slam winner in the second. After Djokovic won his seventh straight game to open the deciding set, the 23-year-old Czech won the final six games for his second top-10 win.
“I have no reaction right now. I just fought for every ball,” Machac said after the 2-hour, 7-minute match. “When you play against Novak you just hope. You just try to play your best and see what it looks like.”
Djokovic was competing in the ATP 250 clay-court event for the first time as preparation for the French Open. The Serbian star celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday with his 1,100th tour-level victory.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and the defending French Open champion, will face Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the opening round at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Djokovic, ranked No. 1 in the world, finished Friday’s match with 29 winners and 18 unforced errors, compared to 21 winners and 17 unforced errors for the 44th-ranked Machac.
It is the latest upset loss for Djokovic, who fell to Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in the third round in Rome earlier this month and lost to Italy’s Luca Nardi in the third round at Indian Wells in March. The 98-time titlist has not reached a final in 2024. He is 14-6 overall and 0-3 in semifinals.
Machac advanced to his first ATP Tour final, where he will face either two-time Geneva champion Casper Ruud of Norway or Italian Flavio Cobolli.
–Field Level Media
