WATCH: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina tears up after Ugo Humbert suffers nasty fall – ‘I’m going to cry’
An emotional Alejandro Davidovich Fokina admitted that it was difficult to see Ugo Humbert in so much discomfort after the Frenchman picked up a serious-looking injury during their match in Montpellier.
The duo squared off in the first round of the Open Sud de France on Wednesday and it turned into an interesting tussle as Humbert broke twice in the opening set before a tight second set went to a tie-breaker.
With Davidovich Fokina leading the tie-breaker 4-1, disaster struck as Humbert chased down a ball and then lost his balance and fell to the ground.
The world No 85 screamed in anguish and the Spaniard sprinted over to his rival to comfort him.
After receiving treatment, Humbert tried to continue before he eventually retired due to a right-leg injury and fifth seed Davidovich-Fokina admitted it was an uncomfortable and emotional situation.
"I'm going to cry because I was watching him cry"
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— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 8, 2023
“I’ve known Ugo since we were kids. I’m going to cry because I was watching him cry,” he said during his on-court interview.
“I’ve known him since we were kids and I know him very well. It’s never easy to see a friend like this. He just flew on the court, and I was like, ‘Something happened’, because he was crying and [it was] tough.
“Then the match was over. He fought [very well], with all the crowd… I was doing my best. I wanted to play the third set, but it is never easy to play injured.”
Humbert, who recently returned to the top 100 in the ATP Rankings, gave an update on Instagram saying that he is hopeful that he didn’t break any bones.
Davidovich Fokina added: “I hope that he will recover and will play next week, but now he has to focus on recovering. He’s playing very good… He’s coming back [up the rankings] for sure.
“The first set he was killing me. I went to the bathroom, and I just said, ‘OK, he wants to fight, I will fight, let’s see what happens’. I was growing my game every game, I was fighting, hoping that he would do some mistakes. He did it and I took the second set.”
The world No 32 will face Quentin Halys in the second round after Halys won the battle of the Frenchmen as he defeated compatriot Clement Chidekh 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.
Another Frenchman in Arthur Fils booked his place in the quarter-final as the wildcard upset fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4.
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