Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had left the tennis world stunned when he defeated Serbian great Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters in April last year. The Spaniard will hope for a similar feat when the two meet at the Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati Masters) on Thursday.
The two lock horns in the second round and ahead of the clash, Davidovich tried explaining what it would mean if he beats the world number two.
“I wanted to one day play against him and obviously if I can beat him, for me it would have been a dream. I think it is the same now. If I can win this match tomorrow, for me it’s a dream because in the end you don’t win against these guys every day,” Davidovich told ATPTour.com.
A huge admirer of Djokovic, Davidovich paid the ultimate tribute to the Serb while describing his gameplay. “He has everything of Rafa and Federer. His body is so elastic and he can be very, very solid and he has the weapons to push you to make errors. Then he has winners. He’s very good serving. But the key of his is that he sees the match very good. The moment of the match, he knows how to [judge what he needs to do] very good,” Davidovich explained.
Davidovich had defeated Djokovic in straight sets (6-3, 6-7, 6-1) at the ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo in 2022. It was also the only occasion when Djokovic had dropped sets against Davidovich.
The Serbian then took his revenge during the French Open 2023, defeating Davidovich 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 in the round of 32.
Djokovic, however, has already suffered his first defeat in the United States since 2021. Teaming up with his fellow countryman Nikola Cacic, the 23 time Grand Slam winner faltered in doubles encounter against Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the round of 32 of the Western & Southern Open. The pair lost 4-6, 2-6, which was also Djokovic’s first competitive game since losing in Wimbledon final against world number one Carlos Alcaraz last month.
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