Google News
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Holger Rune produced a thriller in Caja Magica on Sunday night! The home player scored a thrilling 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 victory in three hours and five minutes at nearly 1:10 am for a place in the last 16.
Holger played his first match as a 20-year-old and came from 5-3 down in the decider to prolong the action, battling against the opponent and his crowd at Manolo Santana Stadium. Alejandro made a fresh start after losing serve in the decisive moment and prevailed in the tie break to score three wins at a Masters 1000 event for the fourth time.
The Spaniard won four points more and defended eight out of 12 break points. Holger denied seven out of ten break chances and gave his best against the entire stadium, making one last push in the closing stages but falling in the tie break to end his run in the third round.
They hit an almost identical number of winners and unforced errors.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won a cracker against Holger Rune.
Holger built a slight advantage in the shortest range up to four strokes, and Alejandro erased it in the more advanced ones.
Davidovich Fokina held after numerous deuces in the encounter's fourth game and created a break chance at 4-4 after Rune's double fault. The Dane denied it with a serve & volley combo and faced more issues at 5-5. The young gun saved two break points and closed the game with a service winner for 6-5.
The set went into a tie break, and the home favorite controlled the pace to clinch it 7-6 and forge the advantage after 64 minutes. Holger played better at the start of the second set. He missed chances in games one and three before landing a backhand crosscourt winner at 2-2 for a break.
Davidovich Fokina pulled it back in the next one and stood two points away from the win at 30-30 in the tenth game. Rune brought the game home and cracked a backhand crosscourt winner in game 11 for a 6-5 advantage. Holger wrapped up the set with a volley winner at the net in game 12 to introduce a decider after two hours and eight minutes.
They traded breaks in the opening games, and Alejandro grabbed another return game at 4-3 following a 19-stroke exchange. The Spaniard served for the victory in game nine and experienced a break after the Dane's backhand crosscourt winner that kept him alive.
The set went into a tie break, and Davidovich Fokina created two match points with a forehand crosscourt winner. Holger saved the first, and Alejandro seized the second at 6-5 with a backhand crosscourt winner for a notable victory.