Alejandro Davidovich Fokina claimed his first Masters 1000 title after a 1-6 7-6(5) 6-4 win over Rafael Jodar in Shanghai.
It was an incredible win for Davidovich Fokina in a tight contest against the in-form Jodar as Davidovich Fokina claimed his first ever Masters 1000 title.
It was an astonishing week for Davidovich Fokina who overcame tough tests against Frances Tiafoe, Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev in order to reach the final before beating Jodar in the final.
After the win Davidovich Fokina admitted he is speechless and felt inspired from Arthur Fils’s triumph in Cincinnati earlier on this season, “I don’t have any words right now,” the Spaniard told the ATP website.
“I have a blank mind. I don’t know what to say and I don’t know how I feel. Just a huge relief. After the first set I had to keep trying, keep pushing, like every match in the tournament. In the tie-break, I believed in myself again and tried to play the ball. He was playing huge tennis. In the third set, maybe I had a bit more fitness physically. He’s an amazing player and it was very tough to play against him today.
“Of course I am very grateful for the team I have. They’ve supported me every day for many years and of course this year was a tough one. Not only two months out, I also skipped a couple more tournaments this year with [other] injuries. So it was not an easy one… I cannot describe with words how thankful I am [for my team].
“I remember now Arthur Fils, who is a very good friend of mine and skipped a lot of tournaments this year. He came back stronger, winning matches. So that gave me a lot of power, that if he could do it, I could do it too.”
The third career title for Davidovich Fokina means he will climb to a career high ranking of 13 in the world.
As for Jodar, the Spaniard misses out on his top ten debut but is on track to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals as he is ninth in the race rankings.
