Follow us on Google Discover Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was not in the Parisian crowd’s good books after his latest match.
Davidovich Fokina was beaten by Joao Fonseca in the Basel final last week, in what was his fourth final defeat of the season.
The world number 15 has not let that get him down, as Davidovich Fokina looks to prove a point after being snubbed by Spain’s Davis Cup captain.
Davidovich Fokina has now beaten two French players at the Paris Masters this year, and his most recent celebration has split opinion.
Photo by BENJAMIN VODANT/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty ImagesArthur Cazaux responds to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s celebration
Davidovich Fokina beat Valentin Royer in his first round match at the Paris Masters this year, and faced another Frenchman in Arthur Cazaux in the second.
On the surface, it was a relatively straightforward 7-6(5) 6-4 victory for Davidovich Fokina, but there was a lot more to the match than that.
After beating Cazaux in straight sets, Davidovich Fokina appeared to taunt the French crowd and gestured that it was time for them to go home to bed in his celebration, appearing to imitate the ‘night night’ celebration made famous by basketball star Steph Curry.
This was unsurprisingly responded to with boos from the fans at the Paris Masters, and Cazaux was asked about this situation in his post-match press conference.
While he was unsure if he would have done the same as Davidovich Fokina, Cazaux admitted that he could not be annoyed as he was simply beaten by the better player.
“Well, it’s true that the blue stand and the public were really there,” said Cazaux. “There is a great atmosphere here in La Defense. It was great. I enjoyed that atmosphere with the public, but that’s it. That’s the game.
“He made his little celebration at the end. Everybody reacts their own way. It’s never easy to have the public against you. That’s the way he reacted.
“I don’t know whether I would have reacted in the same way, but all I can do is shut up, because he played his match. He was better than I was. All I can say is bravo. It won’t be my fault if there is not very many French people behind him in the next rounds. But what we can remember from this is that he made a great match today, and well done.”
Arthur Cazaux explains what he is disappointed about after his match vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Although the actions of his opponent did not appear to faze him too much, Cazaux admitted that he was disappointed in one area of his defeat to Davidovich Fokina.
When specifically asked about the first set tie-break, Cazaux admitted that he was disappointed in his serve.
“Well, the first set was very tight, where I’m a bit disappointed as my service wasn’t there today,” said Cazaux. “I didn’t look at the statistics, but I don’t think that my percentage was very high. I didn’t play many winning services, which is a pity, because it’s one of my weapons.
“He returns well, but I would have been better doing more points, marking more points with my serve. It’s true that I had a volley at 3-2, 3-1 also. I missed the return. He really hurt me in the first set. There were a lot of long rallies.
“But I tried to do my best with my feelings of the day. Unfortunately, I played against a very good player today, and that’s all. What I have to do is try and improve and work hard and we’ll see for the next tournaments.”
Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images
Cazaux did not look at the statistics, but they actually show that he hit eight aces and won 80% of his points on first serve.
However, getting the first serve in did prove to be the real issue for the Frenchman, who only managed to hit just over half of his first serves in the court.
It has still been a successful season for Cazaux, who has climbed from outside the top 100 back up to world number 62, with just one tournament left this year at the ATP 250 event in Metz.