Tomas Machac captured his first ATP title on Saturday, beating Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 to win the Mexico Open in Acapulco.
Machac, the eighth seed who was ranked just 65th in the world a year ago and came into the week ranked 25th, is projected to make his top 20 debut when the new rankings are released on Monday.
The 24-year-old delivered a formidable display on serve, winning 37 of 39 first-serve points and saving a set point at 5/6 in the first-set tiebreaker with a thundering serve that drew an error from Davidovich.
He was also impressive from the baseline, using his forehand to dictate rallies as he posted his second win in two matches against Davidovich, the world number 48.
Machac is the second Czech player to win the Mexico Open, after Jiri Novak in 1998.
He's also the third first-time winner this season, following Alexandre Muller in Hong Kong in January and 18-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca in Buenos Aires in February.
It was a second straight ATP runner-up finish for Davidovich, who wasted two match points in a loss to Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic in the Delray Beach final on February 16.
bb/sev
