Australia’s Alex De Minaur fought through to a hard-fought 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, saving three match points to secure the ATP Tour DC Open title on Sunday.
The seventh seed, De Minaur, seemed on the brink of defeat against his twelfth-seeded Spanish opponent after falling behind 5-2 in the final set in Washington. However, Davidovich Fokina, seeking his first ATP title after losing in three prior finals, couldn’t take advantage of his significant lead.
The Spaniard seemed to tense up while serving for the match at 5-3, allowing De Minaur to fight back to 5-4. But Davidovich Fokina regrouped from that missed chance, earning three match points on De Minaur’s serve in the subsequent game. Yet again, he was unable to capitalise, and De Minaur managed to hold serve, levelling the match at 5-5.
The following two games were held on serve, leading to a tiebreak, where De Minaur quickly took control and clinched victory on the first of three match points with an ace, concluding a 3-hour, 2-minute battle.
The Australian said that he had never lost faith in his ability to turn the final around.
“I just kind of knew I could do it,” De Minaur said in his on-court interview. “I just backed myself to commit no matter what, and if I lost this match, it was going to be on my terms.
This victory marked yet another painful disappointment for Davidovich Fokina, who had already faced and lost in two other finals this season. The defeat mirrored his earlier loss in the Delray Beach final in February, where he failed to convert two match points and ultimately lost to Miomir Kecmanovic.
