Davidovich Fokina Eliminates Draper and Returns to the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 Quarterfinals
On the Rainier III court, the first round of 16 match at the Monte-Carlo tournament featured world No. 6 Jack Draper against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard, a finalist on the Monegasque clay three years ago, already had his bearings and had previously defeated Ben Shelton (6-7, 6-2, 6-1) and Tomas Martin Etcheverry (7-6, 6-3) to reach the round of 16.
The two players had never faced each other before on the main tour, but Fokina was likely more comfortable on the surface than the Briton. The start of the match was uncertain, as both players broke serve in the first three games.
Ultimately, the Spaniard, ranked 42nd in the world, seized Draper’s serve at the best moment and managed to close out the set, saving three break points in the final game.
In the second set, Davidovich Fokina started on the same note by breaking his opponent’s serve—an advantage Draper initially struggled to recover from.
Uncomfortable on serve throughout the match (10 double faults, 5 breaks conceded), the Indian Wells champion, who had dispatched Marcos Giron in the previous round (6-1, 6-1), still managed to react.
He broke back, saved a match point in the decisive game of the second set, and then converted his first set point to level the match at one set apiece.
Very nervous at the start of the match, Draper turned his frustration inward toward the end of the first set, shouting "Wake up!" to try and spark a turnaround—but it took time to materialize.
When Draper earned three consecutive break points in the first game of the third set, only for his opponent to fight back and break first, the Briton seemed to have let his chance slip away.
But it was clear that nothing would come easy for either player today. Breaks piled up between two players who were generally uncomfortable on serve.
However, in the end, Fokina always stayed ahead on the scoreboard and clung to his slim lead until the very end, sealing the victory with a final break—and a double fault from Draper, symbolic of his struggles (6-3, 6-7, 6-4).
A quarterfinalist in 2021 and an unfortunate finalist in 2022 (both times defeated by Stefanos Tsitsipas), Davidovich Fokina returns to the Final 8 of the Monte-Carlo tournament after early exits in the first round of the last two editions.
He will face the winner of the match between Casper Ruud and Alexei Popyrin for a spot in the semifinals this Friday in the Principality.
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