Spanish ace Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will be missing the Barcelona Open this year.
The 22-year-old netter, who was scheduled to make his second main draw appearance at the ATP 500 Barcelona Open, on Monday, tweeted that he will miss the tournament due to fatigue.
Davidovich Fokina entered the main draw last year after failing to qualify for three consecutive years but was beaten in the opening round by Alexander Bublik.
“I’m sad. Can’t wait to be next year,” said Davidovich Fokina, who will be replaced by Manuel Guinard.
He is expected to return to action in the Madrid and Rome Masters, which are slated over the coming weeks.
Davidovich Fokina reaches Top 30
The young Spaniard is fresh off a masterful week that saw him reach his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 final at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Davidovich Fokina, who lost in the final against defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, had a memorable run in the tournament, which resulted in him upsetting world number one Novak Djokovic in the second round.
He also registered consecutive victories against Indian Wells Master’s champion Taylor Fritz and former world number three Grigor Dmitrov in the quarterfinal and semi-finals.
All three matches went the distance, with two of the six sets reaching a tiebreak. For his troubles, Davidovich Fokina moved 19 places up his previous ranking and reached a career-high of 27 in the latest ATP rankings to become the fifth-best Spanish player worldwide.
Multi-titled grand slam champion Rafael Nadal is still the best Spanish tennis player in the world, ranking fourth in the ATP Rankings with 6,935 points. Rounding up Spain’s top five are tenth ranked Carlos Alcaraz (3,330 points), 18th ranked Robert Bautista-Agut (2,015 points) and Pablo Carreno Busta (2,015 points), who is ranked 19th in the world.
An amazing experience
Davidovich Fokina, who arrived at the Monte Carlo Country Club, sporting a dismal 4-9 (win-loss) card, dubbed his stint at the Monte Carlo Masters as an “amazing experience”.
“It was an amazing experience. I enjoyed every day, winning big matches. Beating Djoko and players that are at the height of their careers. It was a tough week. A lot of emotions,” he added.
Prior to his stellar run, Davidovich Fokina’s best result at an ATP Masters 1000 event also came in Monte Carlo last year when he advanced to the quarterfinals before coincidentally losing to Tsitsipas.
Sources:
ATP Ranking source: https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles
