Alex de Minaur secured his 10th ATP tour-level title on Sunday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, overcoming Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a tightly contested three-set final. The Australian won 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3), saving three championship points when serving at 4-5 in the final set. On the third match point, De Minaur was just millimeters from defeat but managed to keep the rally alive with a lob that landed on the sideline.
“It’s something about this court. I did it in 2018 against Rublev and honestly, I just kind of knew I could do it,” De Minaur said after the match. “I just backed myself and I told myself to commit no matter what and if I lost this match it was going to be on my terms. Today it went my way. I’ve had a couple of brutal ones not go my way, so I’m glad this one went my way.”
Davidovich Fokina was aiming for his first ATP Tour title and previously came close earlier in the year, missing two championship points at Delray Beach and losing another final in Acapulco. He fell short again despite defeating top seed Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals and playing another three-hour contest against De Minaur.
During the trophy ceremony, De Minaur offered words of encouragement to his opponent: “You’re way too good to not have one of these [trophies]. It’s coming for sure,” he said. “You deserved it today. I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, a hell of a player. No one on the Tour wants to play you. This is not the end, this is only going up for you.”
With this victory, De Minaur improved his record against Davidovich Fokina to 3-2; their first encounter took place at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in 2019.
De Minaur’s win moved him up five spots to No. 8 in both the PIF ATP Live Rankings and two places to eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Davidovich Fokina climbed seven places to re-enter the Top 20 at No. 19 and also rose seven spots to 11th in the Race To Turin.
Both finalists have had strong seasons on hard courts and are among the top five players with most match wins on tour this year—De Minaur has accumulated 35 victories while Davidovich Fokina has tallied 32.
De Minaur credited his current form to improvements off court as well as during matches: “I’m very happy with where I am at the moment, how I’m dealing with things on and off the court,” he explained. “I had the mindset that even if today didn’t go my way, it was a very positive week.
“So I was proud of my efforts no matter what, but jeez it feels good to hold my 10th title.”