Alex de Minaur demonstrated his trademark determination to defeat Tomas Machac in his first match at the Vienna Open.

De Minaur is the fifth seed at the ATP 500 tournament in Austria, where he was drawn against qualifier Machac in round one. And it was the Australian who came out on top against his Czech rival, coming from behind to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The world number 10 now meets American ace Learner Tien in the second round of the Vienna Open, in what will be their first-ever match. Ahead of that meeting, De Minaur has opened up on the conditions at the hard-court, indoor event.

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Alex de Minaur suggests ‘heavy’ conditions at the Vienna Open

After knocking out Machac, De Minaur commented: “He’s incredibly talented. There’s no other way to put it. Normally you could say he is not always able to bring that level, but he can. We’ve seen him do it. So he’s got that ability to hit through the court, through everything. He wasn’t giving me any chance.

“These conditions are quite heavy, and I felt like he could just unload on the ball and not really miss. He made it very tough for me for three quarters of that match. Honestly, I dug deep, found a way to get a crucial break when I needed it and then all of a sudden the momentum kind of changed.”

He can take great confidence from the victory and the manner of his fightback, along with the fact that his 18 match wins at ATP 500 tournaments are more than any other player this season. Meanwhile, Machac may be left wondering what could have been given how the match somehow got away from him.

He has, however, already come to terms with the defeat, and is now looking towards the ATP Masters Paris 1000. Machac posted on his Instagram: “Playing at the level of the best: great feeling. Losing this close: tough one. Well played [Alex de Minaur]. Part of the process. Now, Paris!”

Alex de Minaur’s tricky Vienna Open draw

Still eager to secure a place at the ATP Finals, the Australian will be hoping to take his form from the Asian Swing into Europe. De Minaur reached the final of the China Open in Beijing, but lost out to Novak Djokovic. He then made it to the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters, where he was beaten by Alexander Zverev.

But it won’t be easy to enjoy a lengthy stay in Austria given the high-quality field involved. Should he make it past Tien, De Minaur could meet one of Matteo Berrettini, Flavio Cobolli or wildcard Grigor Dimitrov. After that, top seed Zverev is among his possible semifinal opponents, with Carlos Alcaraz potentially awaiting in the final.

Alcaraz, Zverev and Ben Shelton have all qualified for the ATP Finals next month, with the Australian aiming to join them. He’s currently 10th in the Race to Turin, and is among a number of players battling it out for the remaining five spots. Ahead of De Minaur in the standings, Daniil Medvedev, Cobolli and Frances Tiafoe are all in Austria looking to add points to their tallies.