Alex de Minaur has claimed his first title of the year, winning the Washington Open final at the second time of asking. The Australian men’s No 1 fought gallantly to claim an enthralling contest in the US capital over fellow 26-year-old Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), in just over three hours.

A workman-like tiebreaker capped off a week full of positives, and 10th career title success, for De Minaur ahead of next month’s US Open in New York, while Davidovich Fokina fell just short of claiming his first ATP Tour title.

Seventh seed De Minaur, who lost in straight sets to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the 2018 Washington final, improved to a tour-leading 21 hard-court wins for the season by beating Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the semis.

On Monday (AEST), Davidovich Fokina, the Spanish 12th seed, was broken early in the opening set but responded immediately for 2-2. He gained the advantage again in the 11th game before serving it out in 66 minutes.

De Minaur consoles Davidovich Fokina after the match. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

It lit a fire under the Australian player, who went up 3-0 in the second and broke again to take it to a third set. But he dropped serve for 3-1 in the decider, before saving three match points and breaking back when Davidovich Fokina was serving for the championship at 5-4.

De Minaur went on to claim a breaker littered with unforced errors by his opponent.

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De Minaur will return to the top 10 in the rankings after reaching the decider. His 42 wins at ATP 500 level since the start of the 2023 season is the most by any player on tour.