Alex de Minaur saves 3 CPs to disclaim Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Washington last | ATP Tour

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De Minaur saves 3 CPs to disclaim Davidovich Fokina in Washington last

Aussie wins tenth tour-level singles title

July 28, 2025

Alex de Minaur could not rating his efficiency within the Mubadala Citi DC Open last an ideal 10, however that can take not one of the shine off the scrappy comeback that earned him his tenth tour-level title in dramatic vogue on Sunday.

In a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) victory in opposition to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the Aussie saved three championship factors on serve at 5-4 within the last set — however solely after breaking from 30/0 when the Spaniard served for the title. De Minaur was 16 millimetres from defeat on his opponent’s third match level, however a determined lob clipped the sideline and helped him flip the purpose and the match round.

“It is one thing about this courtroom. I did it in 2018 in opposition to Rublev and truthfully, I simply form of knew I may do it,” mentioned the Aussie, who saved 4 match factors in opposition to Andrey Rublev that yr however misplaced within the last to Alexander Zverev at age 19. “I simply backed myself and I advised myself to commit it doesn’t matter what and if I misplaced this match it was going to be on my phrases. At this time it went my manner. I’ve had a few brutal ones not go my manner, so I am glad this one went my manner.”

For Davidovich Fokina, who was looking for his first ATP Tour title, it’s a merciless blow after he missed out on two championship factors in Delray Seashore this previous February in opposition to Miomir Kecmanovic and misplaced the Acapulco last to Tomas Machac in March.

After a late-night, three-set upset of high seed Taylor Fritz within the quarter-finals, the Spaniard almost repeated that magic in one other three-hour battle in opposition to De Minaur. As an alternative, he buried his head in his towel after falling agonisingly brief in last, with the Aussie coming over to console his fellow 26-year-old.

“You are method to good to not have considered one of these [trophies]. It is coming for positive,” De Minaur advised him through the trophy ceremony. “You deserved it in the present day. I simply acquired fortunate. You’re a hell of a competitor, a hell of a participant. Nobody on the Tour desires to play you. This isn’t the top, that is solely going up for you.”

De Minaur is now 3-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head in opposition to Davidovich Fokina, with their first assembly coming in 2019 on the Subsequent Gen ATP Finals introduced by PIF.

Behind his title run, De Minaur moved up 5 locations this week to No. 8 within the PIF ATP Reside Rankings and two locations to eighth within the PIF ATP Reside Race To Turin. Davidovich Fokina rose seven locations within the Reside Rankings to return to the Prime 20 at No. 19, and likewise shot up seven locations to eleventh within the Race To Turin.

At first look, seventh seed De Minaur and twelfth seed Davidovich Fokina may have appeared like shock males’s singles finalists on the ATP 500. However their seasons on the ATP Tour paint a special image.

On the conclusion of the occasion, each gamers lead the ATP Tour in hard-court wins in 2025 and stand among the many high 5 in complete match wins this season, De Minaur with 35 and Davidovich Fokina with 32. They’re additionally two of simply 4 gamers to have performed in a number of finals on the yr, alongside Carlos Alcaraz (3) and Andrey Rublev (2).

Feelin’ presidential in Washington 🏆🏛️@alexdeminaur saves three championship factors en path to claiming his tenth ATP Tour title, defeating Davidovich Fokina 7-5 1-6 7-6(3)!@mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/GP4v1LdaUT

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 28, 2025

De Minaur credited his mentality and mindset together with his latest success: “I am very proud of the place I’m in the intervening time, how I am coping with issues on and off the courtroom,” he defined. “I had the mindset that even when in the present day did not go my manner, it was a really constructive week.

“So I used to be happy with my efforts it doesn’t matter what, however jeez it feels good to carry my tenth title.”