In a dramatic match, the Zverev conqueror defeated Alexander Davidovich Fokina from Spain at the ATP 1000 tournament in Toronto the No. 3 seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud and meets the American in the quarterfinals Mackenzie McDonald.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edited: 08/10/2023, 10:17 p.m
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokine defeats Casper Ruud in a dramatic three-set match.
Before today’s encounter, the world number 5. Casper Ruud and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina twice faced each other on the tour. While the Norwegian was able to win the group stage at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in 2019, the Spaniard triumphed in five sets in the third round of Roland Garros in 2021.
Both players held at love in the first half, with Ruud missing the only four chances in the set to break. After five mini-breaks at the start of the tie-break, Davidovich Fokina was able to take a 6-2 lead, after which the 24-year-old converted his third set point.
After a break in the initial phase, the ninth game on Davidovich Fokina’s serve should bring the preliminary decision in the second act. Following a lost point after an underarm serve, the Spaniard served two double faults in a row and sealed the loss of serve with a backhand hit in the net without gaining a point. Then Ruud served confidently to equalize the set.
In the third set, Ruud seamlessly continued his performance in the second set and was able to immediately take the first service game from his opponent without losing a point. Without further break chances, the Norwegian transported his lead to a 5: 4 lead and served to win the match. Davidovich Fokina once again threw all his fighting qualities into the ring and equalized with a break. After that, both players held their service games, so the tie-break had to bring the decision. After the first mini-break in the third point, the Spaniard can pull away to 5:1 after several forehand errors by Ruud. With a stop ball that Ruud pushes out, Davidovich Fokina ends the match after 3:15 hours of play with 7: 6 (4), 4: 6, 7: 6 (4).
In the quarterfinals, the world number 37 meets. on the American Mackenzie McDonald, who is currently ranked 59th in the ATP ranking.
McDonald stops local hero Raonic
The American, who after his opening win against Aslan Karatsev was able to surprise with a two-set win against No. 6 seeded Andrey Rublev, opened the day on Center Court against local hero Milos Raonic. Starting with a break in the first game, the 28-year-old McDonald completely dominated the match and converted three of his five break chances without giving up a service of his own. With an ace, the former college player fixed the 6: 3, 6: 3 success after 84 minutes.
Here is the individual tableau from Toronto
2023-08-10 20:15:20
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