Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reflects on dramatic Jack Draper match – ‘A rollercoaster with my mind’
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina said he is “sorry” for how he acted during his match against Jack Draper – which he won 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 – calling it a “s***” match.
The Spaniard was clearly the better player during the first set, and continued the momentum into the next – being just one point from going up a decisive double break.
However, Draper, who lifted the Indian Wells title in March, had other ideas and broke back, before saving a match point at 6-5 in the tiebreak and claiming it for himself.
The third set followed a similar pattern, with Davidovich Fokina breaking first, before the world No 6 fought back to bring the match back on serve.
Ultimately, a double fault from the Brit would prove fatal.
“Today I didn’t feel my best tennis and not my best mental strategy,” admitted the Spaniard during his on-court interview.
“Today was a rollercoaster with my mind. I thought I was playing better but my mind was saying to me a lot of b******t.
“I don’t know how to control my emotions today, it was very emotional today to play here. I’m so sorry how I did it today but I’m happy for the win and I’m going to try and improve for tomorrow.
“Jack can [beat] me today because he was playing better than me. I knew how to manage to stay on my serve for the third set.
“I tried what I have with my whole body in the last game and I’m happy with how I did it in the last game.”
Overall, the victor hit a staggering 57 unforced errors and 10 double faults throughout the match.
Speaking to Ziggo Sport, Davidovich went on to state: “Today was a very s*** match. For myself, my part, I didn’t act very good, it was a rollercoaster, very emotional game today.
“For his part, he didn’t serve very good today, he was a little bit nervous maybe.
“We didn’t play our best tennis today. There is another way you can win these matches when not playing as good as I did the last two matches, today was not a good one, my attitude was very bad on court.
“I feel sorry for myself and my team, they had to be here three hours, watching me and my attitude.”
2025 has been an up-and-down season for the Spaniard, reaching the finals of the ATP 500 events in Acapulco and Dallas, as well as making the fourth round of the Australian Open, before losing two of his three matches during the ‘Sunshine Double.’
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Coming into the match, Draper – who has never won a singles match at Roland Garros – believed that he had been transitioning well from hard courts to the clay.
“I feel like I’ve been transitioning well to the clay, been working really hard to look for my forehand and do all of the right things to be effective on this surface,” said the Brit.
“I’ve struggled a little bit in the last couple of years, but I’m really hoping this year with my new tennis that I can have a good run.”
