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Match Details
Fixture: (USA) Taylor Fritz vs (CZE) Tomas Machac
Date: January 4, 2025
Tournament: United Cup 2025
Round: Semifinal
Venue: Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney, Australia
Category: United Cup
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize Money: US$11,170,000
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN
Taylor Fritz vs Tomas Machac preview
World No. 4 Taylor Fritz will be eager to guide Team USA to its second United Cup trophy this week as he takes on Team Czech Republic's Tomas Machac in his singles fixture in the semifinals of the team event.
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Fritz enjoyed a career-best year in 2024, reaching his maiden Major final at the US Open before finishing runner-up at the ATP Finals two months later. The American had a slow start to his 2025 ATP Tour season, as he wasted a 6-4, 4-2 lead to succumb to Team Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets in his United Cup opener.
That said, the 27-year-old made plenty of amends for the above loss later as he beat Borna Coric and Zhang Zhizhen in straight sets to guide his country to the semifinals of the team event. Considering it won the inaugural edition two years ago, Team USA is the current favorite to reign supreme at the tournament.
Machac, meanwhile, also picked up momentum last year, jumping from a lowly 78th in the ATP rankings in January to a career-high ranking of 25 by the end of the season. The Czech had a similar start to his United Cup campaign as Fritz; he dropped his first match to Team Norway's Casper Ruud in three sets, before straightforwardly winning his next two fixtures.
Taylor Fritz vs Tomas Machac head-to-head
Fritz leads Machac 1-0 in their head-to-head on the ATP Tour. The American beat his lower-ranked opponent in five sets in the first round of the 2020 French Open.
Taylor Fritz vs Tomas Machac prediction
Fritz has always been a talented shotmaker with big strokes from both wings. However, the American has been moving better than ever lately, which has made him quite potent from the baseline. He also has an impressive killer instinct, especially on breakpoints, that sets him apart from his peers.
Machac is also very versatile in terms of his groundstrokes. The World No. 25 not only takes the ball early but puts immense explosive strength on his weight transfer, thereby ensuring that he gets on top of rallies from the beginning.
The 24-year-old Czech will likely give the 2024 US Open runner-up a whole lot of trouble, provided his physical conditioning holds up. That said, Fritz has enough big-match experience at this point of his career to fight through and help Team USA reach this year's United Cup final.
Pick: Fritz in three sets.
