Alejandro Davidovich Fokina did not like his schedule in Toronto on Friday. However, the Spaniard stepped onto the court at11:00 a.m. and ousted Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 16 minutes for a place in the last 16.
Alejandro outplayed the Miami Open champion following a strong performance in the opener and a double break in set number two. After the match, Davidovich Fokina explained his post on social media.
An in-form Spaniard never said he would not play at 11:00 but wanted to express his disagreement with the schedule and urged thatit has to change.
Alejandro took 19 points more than Jakub. Both players struggled to find the first serve, and the Spaniard provided more efficient numbers behind the second serve to make the difference.
The more experienced player denied two of three break points and kept the pressure on the other side. The Czech could not follow those numbers. Jakub lost half of the points in his games and got broken four times from as many chances offered to his opponent.
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Mensik sprayed over 30 unforced errors and plagued his chances for a better result. The Spaniard served well in the first set and earned back-to-back breaks in games three and five.
He saved a break point at 5-2 and claimed the opener to gain a boost. Mensik suffered a break at the beginning of the second set and pulled it back in game four to lock the result at 2-2.
They served well in the next four games before Alejandro provided a break at love at 4-4 to move in front. The Spaniard saved a break point in game ten while serving for the win, sealing the deal and reaching the last 16.
"I posted on my social media that the match was too early. They handled it very poorly because the rest of the matches start at 12:30. However, I did not say I did not want to play at 11:00; I just said things needed to change.
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I have played against Jakub twice this year. I knew it would be difficult as he has a great serve, but I knew I would have opportunities in each game. It was an intense match, even though the result does not show it," Alejandro Davidovich Fokina said.
