Alejandro Davidovich Fokina stunned top seed Alexander Zverev on Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters to record one of the biggest wins of his career. The Spaniard rallied to earn a thrilling 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win and advance to his second ATP Masters 1000 final
After losing a tight opening set, the 27-year-old remained positive to turn things around. Dynamic and intense in the baseline exchanges, Davidovich Fokina levelled when he hit a scorching backhand pass on the run to raise the roof on Stadium Court.
The Spaniard then capitalised on a Zverev double fault at the start of the third set and from there, played aggressively and was impressive on serve to sink Zverev and record his sixth Top-5 win and first of the season after two hours and six minutes.
"It doesn't matter the result, I am just thinking about every ball," Davidovich Fokina said in his on-court interview. "I knew that if I stayed there all match, I could get at least one chance and I took it there in the second set. Then in the third set, I think I was better physically. The early break in the third set gave me a lot of power. I focused on just playing, not mattering about the result but enjoying."
Davidovich Fokina made 82 per cent of his first serves against Zverev and regularly found success serving wide to the Zverev forehand. The Spaniard then swung freely from the baseline, going after his forehand throughout to improve to 2-6 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. After squandering two match points on the Zverev serve when leading 5-2, the 25th seed then held his nerve to close out on serve, sparking an outpouring of emotion.
Davidovich Fokina has now won nine consecutive matches in China, having lifted his second tour-level trophy last month at the ATP 250 event in Chengdu. In a dramatic run in Shanghai, Davidovich Fokina has also defeated Frances Tiafoe and Hubert Hurkacz in third-set tie-breaks, saving one match point in his third-round win against Tiafoe. He is up 11 spots to No. 15 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
Davidovich Fokina will compete in his second Masters 1000 final on Sunday, having lost in the 2022 Monte-Carlo title match to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Davidovich Fokina arrived in Shanghai at No. 26 in the PIF ATP Rankings and is the fourth lowest-ranked finalist in tournament history. He will meet Daniil Medvedev or Rafael Jodar in the title match.
"At the end, it is not easy when you are out, you have a lot of time to think," said Davidovich Fokina, who missed the North American hard-court swing in August due to injury. "We are very privileged to be here and play this sport. This time gave me a lot of thinking time to think what I want to do with my future."
Zverev, this year’s Roland Garros and US Open champion, secured ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours in Shanghai. The 29-year-old was trying to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 final of the year, having lost to Jannik Sinner in Madrid.
