29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain stunned sixth seed Holger Rune of Denmark 7-6 5-7 7-6 in a pulsating third-round encounter at the Madrid Open on Sunday. Davidovich Fokina will now take on Borna Coric of Croatia in the fourth round on Tuesday.
There was absolutely nothing between the two in the match, but the 23-year-old Spaniard managed to prevail in the end. Meanwhile, it was a disappointing loss for the 19-year-old Rune, who had finished as the runner-up in Monte Carlo.
How Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Holger Rune in Madrid
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina kept hitting through his opponent:
Davidovich Fokina was the more aggressive of the two players from the beginning. He kept moving Rune from side to side and then aimed at the open court for a number of winners. However, if Davidovich Fokina hit winners from the baseline with his well-placed groundstrokes, Rune did the same from the forecourt.
The Dane rushed the net frequently to hit a lot of volley winners. Still, the Spaniard was the more aggressive shotmaker of the two. The first set was a well-contested one and went into vs tie-break that the Spaniard managed to win.
The entertaining match went down to the wire:
Rune gave Alejandro Davidovich Fokina a taste of his own medicine by playing the angles well in the second set. In addition to that, there was a regular dose of drop shots from the Dane to drag Davidovich Fokina to the net repeatedly. Rune also opted for serve-and-volley on a number of occasions to win some points.
Rune broke the Spaniard in the fifth game of the second set only for the latter to break back in the subsequent game itself. However, Rune broke him once again to secure the second set.
The deciding set went into a tie-break as well as the two players exchanged breaks in it. However, Davidovich Fokina managed to keep his nose in front to win the match.
Main Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
