Alex de Minaur staged a gutsy comeback to win the Washington Open on Sunday, battling from a set down and saving three match points to edge Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3) in a dramatic ATP 500 final.
The Australian No. 1, who fell short in the 2018 final, admitted he “rode his luck” en route to his 10th career title – a victory that will propel him into the world’s top 10 just weeks before the U.S. Open.
Both players traded early breaks in a tense opening set, but Davidovich Fokina took charge late, firing crisp forehand winners to close it out.
Undeterred, de Minaur roared back in the second, dominating on return and never facing a break point, sealing the set with an ace in just over half an hour to level the match.
The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider, but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to No. 7 seed de Minaur.
Davidovich Fokina’s frustration mounted as the No. 12 seed squandered three match points on de Minaur’s serve. The Australian then capitalized on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to seal the win.
“I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I’m so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title,” de Minaur said during the trophy presentation.
“Alejandro, you’re way too good not to have one of these – it’s coming for sure,” he added, gesturing to the trophy. “You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end – this is only the beginning for you.”
Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the U.S. capital last year and said he was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career-high world No. 19 when the rankings are updated Monday.
“He deserved the win. He was fighting every ball, he was always pushing through my limits,” Davidovich Fokina said.
“We had a job to do before we started the year – to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder.”
