The 27-year-old Spaniard beat his compatriot Rafael Jódar in the final and, in doing so, secured a record for Boris Becker.
At the Shanghai Tennis Masters, Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated his compatriot Rafael Jódar in the final, just one day after beating Alexander Zverev, thereby celebrating the biggest tournament victory of his career. The 27-year-old prevailed against the exceptional talent from Madrid 1–6, 7–6 (7–5), 6–4. On Saturday, Davidovich Fokina had also defeated Zverev, the future world number one, in three sets.
With his victory over Jódar (20), Davidovich Fokina also secured a record for Boris Becker in the ATP’s statistics books. It had once taken Becker 210 days (December 1984 to October 1985) to progress from his first entry into the top 100 to his debut in the top 10. Jódar could have broken this record, but will only climb to eleventh place on Monday.
Davidovich Fokina had recently won the title in Chengdu, China; it was the second title of his career, having lost his first five finals on the ATP Tour. In Shanghai, he capped off his dream run against Jódar, having beaten, amongst others, the top-10 players Frances Tiafoe (USA) and Zverev (Hamburg). In the world rankings, he will be listed at number 13 on Monday – his highest ever position.
Against Jódar, Davidovich Fokina stood no chance in the first set and was just two points away from defeat in the second. However, in front of former world-class players Roger Federer and Marat Safin, who were discussing the match in the stands, he fought his way into the deciding set. There, he proved to be more tenacious, more composed and more experienced than his opponent.
