Alejandro Davidovich Fokina dropped to his knees in celebration after an epic victory on Friday at Roland Garros. The Spaniard, one day shy of his 22nd birthday, came through a 16-minute service hold in the final game of his 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(6), 0-6, 7-5 victory over Norwegian 15th seed Casper Ruud, one of the player’s touted to go deep at the Paris major.
Davidovich Fokina, who also reached the fourth round at the 2020 US Open, saved four break points in the final game, including one with an underarm serve, as Spanish supporters chanted “Foki, Foki” with every point their favourite won. He closed out one of the biggest wins of his career after four hours and 35 minutes on his fifth match point.
The World No. 46, who reached the Millennium Estoril Open semi-finals in May, will now prepare to challenge Argentine Federico Delbonis, who upset Italian 27th seed Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
There were no break points in the decider, which lasted 63 minutes, until the 10th game when Ruud came under increasing pressure. Davidovich Fokina broke on his fourth break point when Ruud hit a backhand long, then came through a lengthy service hold at 6-5 - featuring five match points in an eight-deuce game - for a memorable 18th match win of 2021.
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Ruud, 22, had come to the French capital in form, having captured his second ATP Tour title two weeks ago at the Gonet Geneva Open (d. Shapovalov). He also reached two ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. to Rublev), the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Berrettini), plus the last four at the BMW Open in Munich (l. to Basilashvili).
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3pk0FNY
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