De Minaur fights back in Vienna opener
Alex de Minaur staged a remarkable comeback against Tomas Machac at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Monday, October 26, 2026, securing a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to advance in the tournament, according to Feedzop. Facing a challenging start, the Australian found himself trailing 6-1, 4-2, a scoreline that threatened his pursuit of points for the Nitto ATP Finals.
De Minaur acknowledged Machac’s high level of play, noting that fast conditions made it difficult to counter his opponent’s powerful baseline game. The turning point arrived when De Minaur converted his seventh break point in the second set, which shifted the momentum in his favor. Despite dropping his serve early in the deciding set, he responded by winning five consecutive games to seal the match.
Milestone win and next opponents
The triumph marked De Minaur’s 18th ATP 500 match victory of the 2026 season, positioning him as the Tour leader in that category. With this opening-round hurdle cleared, he advances to face either Learner Tien or Luca Van Assche in the next round of the Austrian tournament.
Elsewhere at the event, Italian player Matteo Berrettini also progressed past the first round by defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4. Berrettini, who reached the semi-finals in 2019, moves on to play the winner of the match between Flavio Cobolli and Grigor Dimitrov, as reported by Feedzop.