Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Sunday, October 18, beating Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the final, ESPN’s ATP scoreboard showed. He had reached the final on Saturday by beating Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, after losing the first set, while Jodar beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi-final in straight sets. Both finalists therefore arrived in the final after beating established opponents, and the final itself went the distance, with Davidovich Fokina losing a one-sided first set before winning the next two. Earlier in the week Zverev had beaten Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 and Medvedev had beaten Tommy Paul 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
The case that Davidovich Fokina deserved the title lies in how he won his last two matches. He lost the first set against both Zverev and Jodar, 5-7 in the semi-final and 1-6 in the final, and then won both matches in three sets, which means he won all four sets that followed those openers. Against Zverev he won the last two sets 6-4 and 6-3, conceding only seven games in them, and in the final he won the second set 7-6 and the third 6-4. Coming from behind against two different opponents on consecutive days is a mark of resilience, and it meant he played three sets in each of his last two matches and still finished strongly.
The case against calling it a one-sided victory is that Jodar won more games in the final. Jodar won 16 games to Davidovich Fokina’s 14 across the three sets, 6-1, 6-7 and 4-6 from his side, and he lost the match after the second set went to a 7-6 scoreline in Davidovich Fokina’s favour and the third finished 6-4 to him. In the semi-finals, Jodar’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Medvedev gave him a 12-7 lead in games in a straight-sets match and arguably a smoother path than Davidovich Fokina’s, who dropped a set in each of his last two matches. Jodar had also beaten Casper Ruud 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals, so he reached the final after one three-set win and one straight-sets win.
The result matters for the tour because it shows that a Masters final can be won from a set down against established opponents, and ESPN’s schedule shows that the tour moves on quickly. The BNP Paribas Fortis European Open, the Almaty Open and the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes have semi-finals scheduled for October 24 and finals for October 25. Shanghai therefore closes the Asian swing of the season while the tour turns to Europe and Central Asia, Jodar played eight sets across his last three matches and Davidovich Fokina six across his last two, and the title came in a week in which Zverev and Medvedev both lost in the semi-finals.
Davidovich Fokina came from a set down twice to take the Shanghai title, while Jodar lost the final despite winning more games. The final will be remembered for the comeback rather than the scoreline. The scoreboard says the winner was the player who fought back twice, and the games count says the loser was close behind.
