Photo Source: TTV
After suffering extreme heartbreak in the Delray Beach final earlier this month, where he squandered a pair of match points and was denied his first career title by Miomir Kecmanovic, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has picked himself up and put himself in position once again.
The Spaniard reached the final in Acapulco on Friday night with a stunning 7-6(3), 7-6(1) victory over Denis Shapovalov, snapping the Canadian’s eight-match winning streak and setting a final with Tomas Machac of Czechia.
Davidovich Fokina had his back against the wall early in the tournament, but found his way out of trouble by saving four match points against Mattia Bellucci in the second-set tiebreak. He then got past Frances Tiafoe in a tense three-setter before blitzing 19-year-old Mexican hopeful Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez in straight sets in the quarterfinal.
He had to fight to the finish against Shapovalov in the pair’s second career meeting. He had to save three points to avoid going double-break down in the first and eventually broke Shapovalov as he served for the set at 5-3.
He won the opening set tiebreak impressively, then built a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Shapovalov rallied and again had a chance to serve for the set at 6-5. He broke and dominated the tiebreak, producing several highlight reel-worthy shots to finish off the Canadian in two hours and 18 minutes.
Both Davidovich Fokina and Machac are questing for their maiden ATP titles on Saturday. The Czech got past Brandon Nakashima in a tight battle, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
He is the first man from his country to play the final in Acapulco since 1998.
Machac defeated Davidovich Fokina in their only previous meeting at Shanghai last year, in three sets (1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4).