Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (born 5 June 1999) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 21 achieved on 21 August 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 196 achieved on 21 February 2022. He is currently the No. 5 Spanish player.[6]
Early life
Davidovich Fokina was born and raised in La Cala del Moral, Rincón de la Victoria, about 10 km away from Málaga, Spain, to Swedish-Russian father Eduard Mark Davidovich, and Russian mother Tatiana Fokina.[7][8] His father is a former boxer.[8] Davidovich Fokina has a brother, Mark. Alejandro began playing tennis with his father at the age of three. When he turned five, he started training at Calaflores and later Serramar tennis courts with coach Manolo Rubiales.[citation needed]
Junior career
Davidovich Fokina was Spanish Champion at U12, U15 and U18 levels. He started his professional tennis career in 2016. He won his first ITF Grade 1 in Canada at the Repentigny Internationaux de Tennis Junior, defeating Félix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinal, and Liam Caruana in the final. In October, he won his first doubles title in a Futures tournament held in Nigeria partnering French player Alexis Klégou. During 2017, as a junior, he made his ATP debut at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in April thanks to a qualifying wild card. He defeated Roberto Carballés Baena in three sets. He lost in the second round of qualifying to Santiago Giraldo in three sets. He also reached the junior Roland Garros semifinals, losing to Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
In 2018, he was the hitting partner for the Spanish Davis Cup team at the tie Spain vs. Great Britain held at Marbella. In March, Davidovich won his first ITF Futures 15K title at Quinta do Lago in Portugal, defeating Roberto Ortega Olmedo. He started playing the ATP Challenger Tour during the season.
He reached the quarterfinals at the Chennai Challenger and the final at the Bangkok Challenger II, which he lost to James Duckworth. He made the semifinals at the Marbella Challenger on his home soil, losing to Pablo Andújar in three sets.
Davidovich Fokina started his clay-court season at the first edition of the Andalucía Open in Marbella, Spain. Seeded fifth, he lost in the second round to Ilya Ivashka.[17] He had a great run at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He started the tournament by beating Alex de Minaur in the first round.[18] He then got his first Top ten victory by defeating eighth seed and World N0. 10 Matteo Berrettini, in the second round.[19] In the third round, he won over French wildcard Lucas Pouille to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.[20] He retired after losing the first set during his quarterfinals match against fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas due to a left quadriceps injury.[21] Due to his great result in Monte-Carlo, his ranking improved from 58 to 48. In Barcelona, he fell in the first round to Alexander Bublik.[22] Seeded eighth at the Estoril Open, he made it to the semifinals where he was defeated by seventh seed, compatriot, and eventual champion, Albert Ramos Viñolas.[23] At the Madrid Open, he defeated French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round in three long sets.[24] He was eliminated in the second round by second seed Daniil Medvedev.[25] Getting past qualifying at the Italian Open, he reached the third round where he was beaten by top seed and five-time champion, Novak Djokovic.[26] Ranked 46 at the French Open, he stunned 15th seed Casper Ruud in his third-round match to reach his second fourth round Grand Slam appearance.[27] He then beat Federico Delbonis to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.[28] He ended up losing his quarterfinals match to sixth seed Alexander Zverev.[29]
Seeded sixth at the Eastbourne International, Davidovich Fokina retired after losing the first set during his second-round match against Vasek Pospisil due to a lower back injury.[30] Seeded 30th at Wimbledon, he fell in the first round to American Denis Kudla.[31]
Representing Spain at the Summer Olympics, Davidovich Fokina lost in the third round to top seed Novak Djokovic.[32]
2022: Maiden Tour & Masters 1000 final & top 30 debut
At the Monte Carlo Masters, Davidovich Fokina recorded the biggest victory of his career by defeating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round.[33] He progressed to the quarterfinals for the second year in a row by defeating David Goffin in the third round, then defeated Taylor Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov to reach his maiden career singles final. He became the first man to reach his maiden career final at a Masters tournament since Filip Krajinović in the 2017 Paris Masters. He then lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. As a result, he reached the top 30 at world No. 27 on 18 April 2022.He recorded his first win at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships defeating top-10 player and 7th seed Hubert Hurkacz in a tight 3+1⁄2 hours five set match with a super tiebreak in the fifth after missing three match points.[34] He lost his second round match to Jiri Vesely after being handed a second code violation and point penalty for ball-abuse on match point in the fifth set super tiebreak, after hitting the ball out of the court, in a nearly four hours marathon on court.[35][36] At the US Open, Davidovich Fokina lost in the fourth round to Matteo Berrettini in five sets after twisting his knee in the fifth set.[37]
2023: Top 25 debut, Masters semifinal & fifth top 10 win
At the 2023 BNP Paribas Open he reached the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 for a third time in his career defeating wildcard Yibing Wu, 13th seed Karen Khachanov and qualifier Cristian Garín. As a result, he made his top 25 debut in the rankings on 20 March 2023.
He fell out of the top 50 on 12 August 2024, following the 2024 National Bank Open where he defeated third seed Daniil Medvedev in the second round but retired in the third against eventual semifinalist Matteo Arnaldi and failed to defend his semifinal points from the previous season.
Playing style
Davidovich Fokina is known for having one of the best drop shots on the ATP Tour. His playing style could generally be described as aggressive, and his level tends to fluctuate over the course of a match. He also frequently deploys an underarm serve. Although he is not the tallest of players, he makes up for this disadvantage with his quick movement and powerful groundstrokes. Additionally, Davidovich Fokina can often be seen diving on courts of all surfaces, which leads to both wildly entertaining shotmaking and occasionally injury. He is also known for his excellent returns, often finding sharp angles.[citation needed]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
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