Alejandro Davidovich Fokina wanted to make one thing clear after upsetting top-seeded Taylor Fritz as the world No. 60 insisted that he took a medical timeout very late in the second set only because he was in so much pain that he simply had to do it.
With the American home favorite down by a set and down 5-6 in the second set of his Delray Beach quarterfinal match, the Spaniard was visited by a physio on the court.
Since the medical timeout came in the critical moments of the match, some fans criticized the Spanish player, arguing it was nothing but a move to try to throw the top seed off his game before serving to stay in the match.
While Fritz routinely served out the 12th game to force a tie-break, he still ended up losing in two sets after Davidovich Fokina won three points in a row from 4-5 in the tie-break to complete a straight-set win.
And seemingly, the 25-year-old was seemingly aware of how some might have reacted to his medical timeout so he decided to address it.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina© X screenshot
Davidovich Fokina: Didn’t do it on purpose, I took 5-6 pills only to be able to play
“I apologized to Taylor because I was really feeling my back in the end of the second set,” the former world No. 21 said.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. I had to take 5 or 6 pills to be able to play.”
Davidovich Fokina.
“I apologized to Taylor because I was really feeling my back in the end of the second set. I didn’t do it on purpose. I had to take 5 or 6 pills to be able to play”.
Good words from Davidovich on court.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 15, 2025
By beating Fritz, Davidovich Fokina prevented the American tennis star from completing a three-peat in Delray Beach.
Now, the Spaniard is set to battle against Matteo Arnaldi for a place in the Delray Beach final.
Tennis World USA