The 22-year-old played with a high level of intensity, widening his groundstrokes to pull his opponent around the court.
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated 10th seed Taylor Fritz 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finals, advancing to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. Before defeating Marrakech champion David Goffin in the third round, the Spaniard upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round and showed high levels of confidence against Fritz on Court Rainier III to back up that win. The 22-year-old played with a high level of intensity, widening his groundstrokes to pull Fritz around the court. Davidovich Fokina’s shotmaking and fist-pumping kept the crowd engaged throughout, and he advanced after two hours and 24 minutes.
“I am so, so happy,” Davidovich Fokina said after the intense battle. “Last year I reached the quarter-finals. The emotions to be in the semi-finals are so high. I am enjoying every point. In the first set I had a lot of chances to break but I didn’t do it. But I just stayed focused and believed in myself.”
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“When you beat the World No. 1 it gives you a lot of confidence physically, mentally and technically,” he added. “I am pushing myself every match to play harder and harder.”
Davidovich-Fokina has a strong record at the clay-court event, having reached the quarter-finals last season after defeating Top 10 star Matteo Berrettini. He advanced to the quarterfinals in Doha earlier this year, but he arrived in Monte Carlo on the heels of three straight defeats.
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Despite the score, the first set was a close contest, with Fritz fending off all five break points in the crucial moments. The American had a problem with his lower left ab, but it didn’t affect his performance as he crushed forehands and showed great touch around the net to advance.
In the second set, however, Davidovich Fokina came roaring back, stepping deep behind the baseline to take heavy cuts at the ball while powering his shots with fierce accuracy. The Spaniard finally broke in the ninth game before tying the match on his first set point and screamed with joy.
In the final set, the Spaniard continued to put his foot down, looking the fresher of the two and dominating the longer exchanges to win.
