Davidovich Fokina bested compatriot Rafael Jodar to win the biggest title of his career in Shanghai on Sunday. Fokina registered a 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 win inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy.
Earlier, Fokina saved a match point against Frances Tiafoe in the third round of the tournament and also came back from a set down to beat both Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev on his way to the final.
“I don’t have any words right now,” Davidovich Fokina said. “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.”
This is Fokina’s third and biggest ATP Tour trophy. Earlier, the Spaniard had lost his first five tour-level finals. Fokina gave his gratitude to his team for all the support they have given him.
“Of course I am very grateful for the team I have,” Davidovich Fokina said. “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.”
After this win, Fokina will rise 13 spots to a career-high No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
