By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday February 14, 2025
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ended Taylor Fritz's bid for a Delray Beach three-peat in straight sets on Friday night.
Photo Source: TTV
Taylor Fritz’s bid for a third consecutive title at Delray Beach was thwarted on Friday night by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
In an extremely close, well-played two sets, the 60th-ranked Spaniard pulled through 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in two hours and nine minutes, ending the American’s winning streak at Delray Beach at nine.
There were two trades of breaks in the opening set, and another trade of breaks in the third set, but in the end the contest was decided by two tiebreaks, both managed better by the 25-year-old who improved to 3-1 against Fritz at the ATP level, and 1-1 on hard courts.
Fritz had more winners and fewer unforced errors, but he lost the final four points of the first-set breaker, and then squandered the final three points of the second-set breaker, the last two on serve.
It felt as if fourth-ranked Fritz might be turning the screws, as Davidovich Fokina struggled with a back injury and needed a medical timeout before Fritz served to force a tiebreak at 5-6 in the second set.
The defending two-time champion had rallied from 5-2 down in the second set, but he double-faulted while serving at 5-4 in the tiebreak and then saw Davidovich Fokina take charge and convert his first match point while returning.
After the win, the Spaniard apologized for taking the time out, especially as it came before Fritz’s final service game.
“I said sorry to Taylor for stopping because I was getting stuck with my back,” Davidovich Fokina said. “It was not easy to play at the end of the second set. I didn’t do it on purpose, I was feeling very bad, I took six pills to try and play.”
“I’m very happy for this win, Taylor was playing very good and serving very good.”
Davidovich Fokina will face Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the semifinals.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “Montreal was a long time ago. To have these kinds of wins gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of energy to keep pushing myself to see how far I can go.”
The lower-half semifinal will feature Alex Michelsen, who defeated Cameron Norrie 7-6(3), 7-5, and Miomir Kecmanovic, who toppled Marcos Giron, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.