Wake Forest Athletics
Rottgering Cruises Past World No. 58 Machac, Advances to Winston-Salem Open Round of 16
8/25/2026 8:31:00 PM | Men's Tennis
This marked his fourth victory in four days at the ATP 250 event.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Mees Rottgering continued his remarkable run at the Winston-Salem Open on Tuesday, earning the biggest win of his young professional career with a dominant 6-2, 7-6(1) victory over world No. 58 Tomas Machac at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
Rottgering, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, dispatched the former world No. 20 in straight sets to advance to the Round of 16 of the ATP 250 event in his tournament debut. He has now won four matches in Winston-Salem after battling through qualifying and earning a pair of victories over ATP top 100 players in the main draw.
The Dutchman controlled the match from the service line, finishing with eight aces compared to five for Machac while committing just one double fault to Machac's seven. Rottgering won 80 percent of his first-serve points (35-of-44) and 46 percent of his second-serve points (12-of-26), compared to 69 percent and 32 percent, respectively, for Machac.
Rottgering also held a significant advantage in total points won, taking 87 of the match's 155 points (56 percent). He won 47-of-70 service points (67 percent) and 40-of-85 return points (47 percent).
After breaking Machac twice in the opening set, Rottgering carried the momentum into the second set. The set remained on serve before Rottgering dominated the tiebreak, winning seven of the eight points to close out the match in convincing fashion.
The victory adds to an already impressive tournament for Rottgering, who opened qualifying with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Hunter Heck before defeating Hugo Grenier, 6-4, 6-1, in the second qualifying round. He then earned his first career ATP Tour main-draw victory Monday, defeating world No. 77 Jan Choinski, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
Rottgering now moves into the Round of 16, where he will face world No. 37 and fourth-seeded Arthur Fery on Wednesday.
His match will be the second match of the day on Court 2, following Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Luciano Darderi, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Rottgering enters the matchup following a decorated freshman campaign at Wake Forest in which he helped the Demon Deacons capture the ACC regular-season and ACC Championship titles while earning ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP and ITA Carolina Regional Rookie of the Year honors. He finished the collegiate season ranked No. 24 nationally in singles and posted an 18-3 record with eight ranked victories.
Rottgering, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, dispatched the former world No. 20 in straight sets to advance to the Round of 16 of the ATP 250 event in his tournament debut. He has now won four matches in Winston-Salem after battling through qualifying and earning a pair of victories over ATP top 100 players in the main draw.
The Dutchman controlled the match from the service line, finishing with eight aces compared to five for Machac while committing just one double fault to Machac's seven. Rottgering won 80 percent of his first-serve points (35-of-44) and 46 percent of his second-serve points (12-of-26), compared to 69 percent and 32 percent, respectively, for Machac.
Rottgering also held a significant advantage in total points won, taking 87 of the match's 155 points (56 percent). He won 47-of-70 service points (67 percent) and 40-of-85 return points (47 percent).
After breaking Machac twice in the opening set, Rottgering carried the momentum into the second set. The set remained on serve before Rottgering dominated the tiebreak, winning seven of the eight points to close out the match in convincing fashion.
The victory adds to an already impressive tournament for Rottgering, who opened qualifying with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Hunter Heck before defeating Hugo Grenier, 6-4, 6-1, in the second qualifying round. He then earned his first career ATP Tour main-draw victory Monday, defeating world No. 77 Jan Choinski, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
Rottgering now moves into the Round of 16, where he will face world No. 37 and fourth-seeded Arthur Fery on Wednesday.
His match will be the second match of the day on Court 2, following Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Luciano Darderi, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Rottgering enters the matchup following a decorated freshman campaign at Wake Forest in which he helped the Demon Deacons capture the ACC regular-season and ACC Championship titles while earning ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP and ITA Carolina Regional Rookie of the Year honors. He finished the collegiate season ranked No. 24 nationally in singles and posted an 18-3 record with eight ranked victories.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
Tuesday, August 25
Friday, August 21
Wednesday, August 19
Tuesday, August 18