Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won the biggest title of his career after making an impressive comeback against his compatriot Rafael Hoddar in the final of the Masters in Shanghai. The Spaniard prevailed 1:6, 7:6(5), 6:4 after two hours and 28 minutes on court and won his first trophy in the ATP Masters 1000 category.
The 27-year-old tennis player had to overcome a serious deficit after losing the first set decisively, and in the second part fell behind with a break at 2:3. However, Davidovich Fokina did not give up, managed to turn the tide of the set and prevailed in the tiebreak with 7:5 points. In the decisive third part, the Spaniard maintained his momentum and reached the victory with 6:4.
The triumph in Shanghai crowned an extremely difficult week for Davidovich Fokina, who had to go through several tough tests on the way to the trophy. In the third round, he saved a match point against Frances Tiafoe, and then made comebacks against Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev to secure a place in the final.
The success also has special meaning for the Spaniard because of the difficulties he has gone through in recent months. A back injury took him out of action for two months, but at the end of September he returned with a title in Chengdu. Davidovich Fokina previously triumphed in Mallorca, and now he has added to his collection the most prestigious honor of his career.
After losing his first five finals at the ATP Tour level, the Spaniard now has three consecutive title match victories. The triumph in Shanghai extended his streak to 10 consecutive victories and gave him excellent momentum before the start of the European indoor season.