Mumbai: During the second set of his match against Sumit Nagal on Sunday, Tomas Machac demonstrated an aggressive approach, treating Nagal's first serves as if they were second serves. With a quick leap and a step closer to the baseline, he executed powerful return winners, first with his forehand and then with his backhand.

On the rapid hard courts of Melbourne, when one skilled player capitalizes on the less formidable serves of another, it often indicates a lopsided contest. For a significant portion of Nagal's opening match at the Australian Open, this was indeed the case.

The match, which lasted two hours and five minutes at the 1573 Arena in Melbourne Park, concluded with Nagal losing 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 to the 26th seed Machac from the Czech Republic. This defeat also marked the end of India's singles campaign at the Australian Open.

Last year, at the season-opening Grand Slam, Nagal made history by becoming the first Indian player to defeat a seeded opponent in men's singles since Ramesh Krishnan in 1989, overcoming then-world No. 27 Alexander Bublik. That victory and performance in Australia propelled him into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time.

On Sunday, however, the world No. 91 faced a 24-year-old opponent who had recently triumphed over Carlos Alcaraz and Grigor Dimitrov on the tour.

Machac's superior skill was evident as he effortlessly secured the first set without encountering a single break point, despite Nagal starting the match relatively strong. He lost only two points in his initial service games, but his serve, which is still developing, was broken twice thereafter.

Continuing his dominant play in the second set, Machac capitalized on Nagal's difficulties in maintaining his serve. The Czech player achieved a break in the third game, taking a 3-1 lead. He broke Nagal's serve again, this time to love, delivering powerful return winners before holding his serve to win the set 6-1 in just 36 minutes.

The Indian player made a notable comeback in the third set. He began by successfully holding his serve at 30, followed by breaking Machac’s serve for the first time in the match. After another successful hold, Nagal took a commanding lead of 3-0. Although Machac managed to reclaim a break, bringing the score to 3-4, Nagal responded by breaking serve once more immediately thereafter.

Having been down two sets to none, Nagal had an opportunity to win a set and extend the match into a fourth. However, the Czech player was resolute in his intention to conclude the match in straight sets, winning the subsequent four games consecutively to secure his advancement to the second round.

Ultimately, Machac recorded 38 winners compared to Nagal’s 19, although the Czech player also committed more unforced errors, tallying 33 against Nagal’s 20.

This opening-round defeat will result in Nagal losing 40 ranking points, potentially jeopardizing his position within the top 100 rankings.

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