ATP Weekly: Davidovich Fokina wins another title - this time the biggest of his career in Shanghai | Will Medvedev get his points back after Beijing default? | Almaty, Brussels, Lyon Previews | Goffin & Kukushkin retire in Brussels and Almaty

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John Silk (1:46)

Hello, everyone, and welcome in. To ATP Weekly. We are back.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Is a Masters 1000 champion. And... It's crazy to say, Fergus, because...

It was less than a year ago. Frankly, it was... What, four months ago, where?

Fergus (2:11)

Yeah.

John Silk (2:13)

Davidovich Fokina had made many finals, had been very close, had seen match points, championship points rather, and was not able to capture a title. And here he is claiming his third title in the last six tournaments played.

It's very impressive, and we'll get into this Shanghai run because it was a whirlwind, but thanks for joining me, Fergus.

Fergus (2:41)

No worries, pleasure as always. Feels as though there was a lot of chatter when he did, win that final versus Quinn in Mallorca, would this kind of just set the trap loose? And was it just going to be that he was going to rattle off title after title after title and kind of just find himself in a very rich or in a form?

And it's kind of worked out that way. You know, four months ago, the guy didn't have a title. I was known as arguably the best player on tour without a title and was handed that title by other ATP players, especially, you know, someone like Dimmu Noor last year in the Washington final said that in his speech that you're way too good not to have one of these, you know, except, et cetera, et cetera. And now he's got that monkey of his back in Mallorca and now he's joined a pretty, you know, small group of active players that have a Masters 1000 title to their name.

John Silk (3:44)

Yeah, it's interesting to me because I think in my been watching for tennis for a little bit over three years now, and Davidovich Fokina is always someone who's possessed that ability.

Can hit with the big guys, can trouble anyone, but can also falter quite easily against lesser competition or the moment itself, you know. It's a very small example, but the underarm serve, Wimbledon against Runa at Adol in the Breaker, I think it was. And I think he's such an interesting character himself and just like his tennis as well. It's you kind of know that there's chaos coming in a match with him when he's involved, but everything's kind of changed. I'm curious if the tour kind of takes that perspective when they go up against him now, knowing that he has a different mindset. He's won various tournaments now, but I just think he was someone who had the ability, but wasn't necessarily a lock, per se, to take down the lower guys. And now he kind of poses a different threat, but he has a different approach to the sport itself. He's also a married man quite recently, which also, once again, having these life changes, it can take pressure off when he's on the court, but it's a lot more fun to watch him in this passion.

Fergus (5:34)

Yeah, and you have a similar feeling about someone like Bublik, in the sense that something kind of switches and then suddenly he becomes a serious contender to kind of play with the big guys and be a lock to kind of take out those below him. And for four or five months last year and towards the back end, Bublik was first alternate for ATP finals, and I know you wouldn't think you'd be saying that. There was a genuine shout for Bublik to be a Wimbledon finalist, or because he obviously took that win against Sinner and Haller.