Tomas Machac showed his class by sending an uplifting message to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after beating him in the Mexican Open final. Machac clinched his maiden ATP title with a convincing 7-6 6-2 victory, earning him a place in the world’s top 20 for the very first time.

He was made to work hard early on, saving a set point before coming back to draw first blood in a tiebreak. In the second set, a gulf in quality opened up with Machac winning each of the last five games to wrap up the match. He was almost untouchable on serve, winning 37 of his 39 first-serve points.

Machac will move into the world’s top 20 when the ATP rankings are updated on Monday, becoming the first Czech player to do so since Tomas Berdych in 2018. He is also the third Czech player to win an ATP 500 title, joining Jiri Lehecka and Kiri Vesely in the exclusive club.

Davidovich Fokina, meanwhile, was visibly gutted after losing his second final within the space of a month. He was beaten at the Delray Beach Open by Miomir Kecmanovic and would have been hoping to put things right in Mexico, but ended up falling short once again.

In a classy post-match interview, Machac attempted to console his beaten rival as he insisted the Spaniard will go on to win many titles over the course of his career.

“I’d like to congratulate Alejandro on a great week,” he said. “It’s a great achievement that he played a final the week before and then straight away into [another] final. Keep going. It won’t be just one title, it will be many. Just continue. I believe in you.”

Machac was the highest-ranked player without a tour-level title heading into the Mexican Open and he was delighted to finally get off the mark, saying: “The emotions right now are just relief because it was a tough week, especially when I have this form.

“I don’t like to lose in the final. I’m really happy that I managed to win today because Alejandro was playing really, really good. It was a tough battle. I was serving really well. I think without the serve today, I don’t think [it would’ve] been two sets.

“I told [my coach] two weeks ago that I struggle sometimes with the big matches and I don’t know how to manage these situations, so I will try to speak more often.”