![\"Alejandro](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/davidovich-fokina-toronto-2025-friday-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Toronto
\n Davidovich Fokina, Rublev set intriguing R4 clash in Toronto <\/p>\n
Tiafoe beats Vukic, tees up meeting with Washington champ De Minaur<\/p>\n
August 01, 2025<\/p>\n
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Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.
\n By Jerome Coombe<\/p>\n
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina<\/a> became just the second player to earn 20 hard-court wins this season on Friday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers<\/a>, where he booked his spot in the fourth round.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old Spaniard maintained his perfect record against #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik<\/a> this season, notching a 6-2, 6-4 win in Toronto to improve to 4-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Davidovich Fokina, who let slip three championship points to Alex de Minaur<\/a> in the Washington final last week, joined the Australian as the only men to win 20 hard-court matches in 2025.<\/p>\n Cruising in the 6ix \ud83d\ude0e@alexdavidovich1<\/a>‘s impressive run of form continues as he defeats Mensik 6-2 6-4 and now awaits the winner of Rublev\/Sonego in the Round of 16. @NBOtoronto<\/a> | #NBO25<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/4OFSrUoaDL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) August 1, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cToday was a tricky match,\u201d said Davidovich Fokina. \u201cI played Mensik twice this year. He\u2019s a great server, I knew I had to play every point and move him. It gave me confidence because I knew I had my chances in every game. I think I\u2019m playing well.\u201d<\/p>\n With his run in D.C last week, Davidovich Fokina cracked the Top 20 for the first time, and he is now up to a career-high No. 18 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Having also made championship-match runs on the hard courts of Delray Beach and Acapulco earlier this year, Davidovich Fokina is 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, aiming to debut at the Nitto ATP Finals<\/a>.<\/p>\n You May Also Like: Davidovich Fokina won’t let heartbreak hold him back: ‘I want more’<\/a><\/p>\n Davidovich Fokina is now 34-18 in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index, having already eclipsed his previous-best 32-38 in 2023. The Spaniard will next face sixth seed and last year\u2019s Montreal finalist, Andrey Rublev<\/a>, who rallied past Italy\u2019s Lorenzo Sonego<\/a> 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to record back-to-back wins at this level for the first time in 12 months.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy, it\u2019s the first time I won two matches and reached the round of 16 in Toronto,\u201d said Rublev, who is No. 11 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. \u201cIn the second and third sets, I was able to play more aggressive, fewer mistakes. Let\u2019s see what\u2019s happening next, I\u2019m super excited and motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n After an up-and-down start to the season, highlighted by a title-run in Doha amid opening-round exits at the Australian Open<\/a>, Indian Wells and Miami, Rublev is 16th in the Live Race. The 27-year-old has qualified for the season finale in each of the past five years, but finds himself needing momentum during the North American hard-court swing if he is to continue that trend.<\/p>\n By defeating World No. 38 Sonego after two hours, 32 minutes on Friday in Toronto, Rublev notched his first Top 50 win on the surface since beating Jack Draper<\/a> in the Doha final in February. Rublev takes a 5-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead into his fourth-round clash with Davidovich Fokina, having lost their most recent meeting in Barcelona in April.<\/p>\n In other action in Toronto, Frances Tiafoe<\/a> teed up a fourth-round meeting with Washington champion Alex de Minaur<\/a>. The seventh-seeded American survived Aleksandar Vukic<\/a> 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to earn consecutive hard-court wins for the second time this year.<\/p>\n De Minaur, fresh from claiming his first title of the season in D.C., advanced to the fourth round in Toronto after countryman Christopher O’Connell<\/a> withdrew.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n