Deciding sets are the norm for matchups between Casper Ruud and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The two baseline battlers had faced each other on two previous occasions heading into their National Bank Open third-round showdown on Thursday afternoon. Ruud prevailed 3-4(2), 4-3(2), 4-2, 3-4(2), 4-1 at the 2019 NexGen ATP Finals before Davidovich Fokina survived a 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(6), 0-6, 7-5 at the 2021 French Open.
They went the distance again in Toronto, with Davidovich Fokina getting the job done 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) after three hours and five minutes. Ruud broke early in the third set and served for the match at 5-4, but Davidovich Fokina broke back and eventually took the match in a tiebreaker–his fifth consecutive tiebreaker success against the Norwegian.
“I kept very focused on every point,” the 37th-ranked Spaniard explained. “He had the serve to close out the match, but I was focused on every point to be there and not give up. It was very tough. We played long rallies with a lot of pressure. When I broke [at] 4-5, it was a show of power to finish the match.”
It wasn’t all about power for Davidovich Fokina, who came up with an underarm serve ace in the first set.
Next up for the 24-year-old is an all-unseeded quarterfinal contest against Mackenzie McDonald, who eased past Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday. McDonald has not dropped a single set in victories over Aslan Karatsev, Andrey Rublev, and Raonic.
nice one, ADF
Ruud is a boring player. Both his game and personality.Id rather watch ADF