Alejandro Davidovich Fokina explained the reasons behind his decision to not participate in the Paris Olympics after defeating Arthur Cazaux in the first round of the Atlanta Open on Monday afternoon.
Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina withdrew from this year’s Wimbledon Championships with a back injury. But after a month of recovery and work with his physio, the world No. 43 elected to come to North America rather than risk the surface change from grass to clay in between the hard-court season so recently after an injury.
The Grandstand asked Davidovich Fokina to comment on his decision to immediately take his talents to North American hard courts rather than play at Roland Garros before traveling across the pond. “We decided to don’t [sic] change the surface at the end. My body talks; I skipped Wimbledon and that’s very sad for me because I love to play on grass. My body talks and sometimes we need to hear our body.”
However, the back injury that kept the Spaniard out of Wimbledon is mostly improved. “I feel good. It was one month of recovery with my physio…. I’m conscious that I have to work on my back more and a lot and do more preventions because at the end, I don’t like to skip the major tournaments.”
The decision to take a wild card into the Altanta Open is at least slightly controversial, as Davidovich Fokina’s reason for declining to represent Spain at the Olympics was the back injury from which his performance on Monday suggests that he is recovered.
Still, it’s not unprecedented given the quick surface change. Both Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, who are headlining the Atlanta Open, declined to represent the United States in Paris–instead also electing to prepare for the U.S. Open on hard courts. The quick change from clay to grass back to clay and then to the Montreal Masters could court injuries, so it’s hard to find fault with the choice–especially since the Spaniard is so recently recovered from one.
So bad luck for the Paris Olympics, but good for the Atlanta crowd. Davidovich Fokina played well against talented Frenchman Arthur Cazaux on Monday and gets either Reilly Opelka or Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round.
looked very good on Monday
Yep. He was striking the ball well