DC Open: Alex de Minaur cements final berth, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina secures upset win over Ben Shelton

Australia’s Alex de Minaur managed to overcome his unforced errors problems on the court and secured a spot in the final of the ongoing DC Open. The 26-year-old defeated France’s Corentin Moutet in straight sets in the last-four contest with a score of 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday.

During the match, De Minaur made 33 unforced errors, seven more than Moutet. However, he was efficient enough to convert five break points, three more than his rival. De Minaur registered 20 winners as well, seven more than Moutet and won 17 out of 21 net points. Talking after the match, De Minuar admitted that he was aware that the match will be a tough one for him and stated that his mental toughness helped him in getting over the line.

"It wasn't pretty tennis, but I knew it was going to be a tricky match without a lot of rhythm," said De Minuar. "That's what he's able to do to opponents. I had the mentality of doing whatever it took to get into the title match tomorrow."

This will be De Minaur’s second final of an ATP event in 2025. He appeared in the final of the ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam in February earlier this year where he lost to current world number two Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Big upset

In the other semifinal, Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina secured an upset win over fourth-seed America’s Ben Shelton in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 7-5. The 26-year-old, who came into the contest after beating the top-seed Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals, was far more disciplined on the day and committed 20 unforced errors, 15 fewer than Shelton. Davidovich Fokina broke the service of his opponent six times in two sets. Talking after the match, Davidovich Fokina admitted that he was not ‘fresh’ after winning against Fritz late on Friday night. Davidovich Fokina also highlighted that it was ‘special’ to win against a top player.

"I knew that I wouldn't be fresh after such a late finish, but I knew with Ben that there wouldn't be a lot of long rallies and it would be a quick match. I knew I had to be there for every point,” he said. "It's always special to win against a Top 10 player. To beat one of the best guys in the world is always special. Coming back from 2-5 against Taylor last night was a huge achievement.”

This will be Davidovich Fokina’s third final of an ATP competition in 2025. He lost to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the final of the Delray Beach Open with a score of 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in February earlier this year. Later in March, Davidovich Fokina lost in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC to the Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-2.

In the all-important finale on Sunday, Davidovich Fokina will be eyeing his first-ever ATP title at the highest level. On the other hand, De Minaur will be hoping to lift his 10th career title and first in 2025. This will be the fifth meeting between the two players in professional tennis at the highest level and the first since 2023. In the previous four meetings, both Davidovich Fokina and De Minaur emerged victorious on two occasions each. Their most recent meeting took place during the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Canada two years ago, where De Minaur came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-3. Interestingly, both players have faced each other twice on the hard court, and on both occasions, De Minaur emerged victorious. Davidovich Fokina’s wins against De Minaur both came on clay and grass courts.