By Marc McGowan
Alex de Minaur anxiously waited for the “out” call that never came.
De Minaur’s childhood rival, Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, had brought up his third championship point in the Washington Open final, before a one-two, backhand-forehand punch left the Australian scampering and staggering.
All de Minaur could do – from metres behind the baseline – was toss up a defensive backhand lob that seemed to spend an eternity in the air before somehow nipping the sideline.
It was the lifeline he needed amid a nerve-jangling, 14-minute service game at 4-5 in the last set, having already broken back when Davidovich Fokina tried to serve the match out.
The 26-year-old from Sydney directed a cross-court backhand that forced Davidovich Fokina to lunge for a volley that popped up in the service box for de Minaur to run down and clip for a winner.
It was the pivotal moment in de Minaur becoming a 10-time champion on the ATP Tour, recovering from 5-2 down in the deciding set to outlast Davidovich Fokina, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), in another performance packed with mental resilience.
Alex de Minaur won his 10th career ATP title at the Washington Open in thrilling circumstances.Credit: Getty Images
“I definitely thought it was going out – I couldn’t believe it landed in,” de Minaur told this masthead.
“Even when it dropped, I was waiting for that ‘out’ call. Honestly, it was pretty crazy … at that stage, I told myself, ‘This is meant to be, the stars are aligning, and I’ve just got to keep fighting’.”
De Minaur never trailed in the tie-break, but twice handed back mini-break leads, before sealing a victory after three hours and two minutes of tense and captivating tennis that owed to brave shot-making in the toughest moments.
His triumph leaves him only one career title behind countrymen Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis, and as the fifth Australian to win the Washington Open, with Nick Kyrgios the most recent in 2019 and 2022.
De Minaur has bounced back magnificently from his Roland-Garros disappointment, after which he revealed he was suffering from burnout and mental fatigue. He described that period on Monday as his “sinking point”.
In between the claycourt major and stretching Novak Djokovic to four sets at Wimbledon, de Minaur sought a mental health professional, who convinced him to adopt a healthier mindset free of the rankings obsession he once burdened himself with.
“There were some dark moments out there, but it definitely helped that I had a similar match back in 2018, against Andrey Rublev, on the same court,” de Minaur said.
“I saved match points by being aggressive and committing to my shots. I told myself that my back was against the wall [against Davidovich Fokina], and I wanted to go out on my terms. I’ve lost a lot of matches where I’ve had many regrets, and I didn’t want to lose sleep at night thinking of ‘what ifs’.
“It all comes from the incredible mindset I’ve got at the moment. I’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes to get to where I am, where I’m comfortable enough in my own self.”
It was the second time this year that a heartbroken Davidovich Fokina lost from 5-2 up in the deciding set of a final, after blowing multiple match points at Delray Beach in February.
De Minaur has won three titles at ATP 500 level – below only grand slams and Masters 1000 events – on top of his back-to-back triumphs in Acapulco, Mexico, also on hardcourt, in 2023 and 2024.
He secured a top-10 return by making the final, but his Washington win will propel him five spots to No.8 in the rankings, two off his career-best status from post-Wimbledon last year before a hip injury derailed his season.
De Minaur played brave tennis in the toughest moments of the Washington final.Credit: Getty Images
Now, de Minaur has a great shot at surpassing those heights, with few points to defend outside his US Open quarter-final 12 months ago while still physically compromised, which he rates as one of his best results, given the circumstances.
“It’s a great start to the [hardcourt] swing. Ultimately, there’s bigger fish to fry,” he said.
“The goals for me are the Masters and slams, so it’s going to be a very quick turnaround to Toronto, and I’m quite wary about that.
“But the goal is to come out and compete, and do well, in the two Masters events [in Toronto and Cincinnati] because there is a big opportunity for me. I’m defending no points [after missing those tournaments last year], so if I can get some good results, I will be in a very good spot.”
Nearby lightning delayed the Washington final before de Minaur and Davidovich Fokina, who grew up playing each other in Spain, played out an opening set full of punishing baseline exchanges in unforgiving humidity.
De Minaur snatched back an early break to draw level but a fluffed overhead while serving for 6-5 – coinciding with a fan yelling from the stands – proved his undoing.
Instead of having two game points, he slipped to 30-all, and the pressure took its toll as Davidovich Fokina benefited from consecutive unforced errors from the Australian, who committed 21 against only five winners in the first set.
Fokina, who will make his top-20 debut this week, staved off a break-back point in going up a set as he chased a maiden ATP title.
But de Minaur pounced on a dip from Davidovich Fokina to race to a 3-0 lead, and the Spaniard’s resistance waned as he dropped the second set. De Minaur conceded only three unforced errors for the set.
Davidovich Fokina soon sprung back to life. After struggling in the previous half hour to make inroads on de Minaur’s serve, he made his move in the fourth game.
De Minaur wilted on three straight points – missing each time by a big margin – then Davidovich Fokina thumped a cross-court backhand to regain the ascendancy. He was charging to the title, only to stumble with the finish line in sight.
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