This victory I want to dedicate to all my team, my family, my wife. It wasn’t easy.
Davidovich Fokina dedicated the title to those who supported him through a long absence.
“It’s not easy this speech. I was three months [two, editor’s note] and a half out of the tournaments. I was injured,” he said. “This victory I want to dedicate to all my team, my family, my wife. It wasn’t easy. Being two months at home, and I am very proactive. So you can imagine how it can be. But we did a lot of effort to come back stronger.”
He also enjoyed his first visit to the city. “It was my first time here seeing the pandas. I was enjoying a lot here in Chengdu. For the first time today there was sun.”
The world No. 28 won all 11 of his service games and saved the only break point he faced. He landed 77 percent of his first serves and won 87 percent of those points (46 of 53). Hurkacz, ranked No. 41, hit 17 aces to his opponent’s eight and saved five of six break points. The one he lost decided the first set, and the second went to a tiebreak that the Spaniard won 9-7.
Davidovich Fokina now leads their head-to-head 5-2. He reached the final with wins over Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, French qualifier Alexandre Muller 6-1, 7-5 and Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-4, 6-4.
Hurkacz, chasing his ninth title and his first since Estoril in 2024, had won four matches to reach the final. He beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the No. 7 seed, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-3, South African qualifier Lloyd Harris 7-6 (10), 6-4, American Martin Damm 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Kazakh Aleksandr Shevchenko 6-3, 7-6 (10).