PARIS (Reuters) – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina marched into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time after a power-packed 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory over Federico Delbonis at the French Open on Sunday.
Fokina had already spent more than 10 hours on court at Roland Garros, which included two consecutive five-setters, but the hard-working Spaniard was the livelier of the two players, covering the court with ease and striking the ball with venom.
Despite going down 3-1 in the opening set, Fokina won four games in a row to lead 5-3 before serving out the set. The Spaniard only improved in the second set when he won five games in a row as Delbonis’s unforced errors count climbed.
Delbonis offered resistance in the third set and found his groove as Fokina faded briefly but the Spaniard bounced back in the fourth to convert the only break point in the set to advance to the next round where he will face Alexander Zverev or Kei Nishikori.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
