(Tennis news) 37 in the world Davidovich Fokina defeated American Mackenzie McDonald to continue his fairytale week in Toronto. ‘Foki’ displayed minimal symptoms of tiredness as he dominated the match against McDonald, fresh off his maiden top-10 hardcourt victory over third seed Casper Ruud in the previous round.

The 24-year-old dropped four games but won the first one before dominating the second, giving up just two games. On McDonald’s second serve, where he won 68 percent of the points, he smashed 22 winners and was especially brutal.

Davidovich Fokina is currently 4-2 in the Canadian Open and has a season record of 26-19. The unseeded Spaniard defeated JJ Wolf, Alexander Zverev, the 13th seed, and Ruud earlier this week with just one set lost.

The second-seeded Daniil Medvedev was defeated by the 24th-ranked De Minaur in the last eight to go to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal. The 24-year-old, who was playing in his first quarterfinal of the competition, came back from 5-2 down and saved three set points to win the first set in a tie-break.

The tenacious Australian won the match in two hours and two minutes after a chaotic second set, recovering two breaks of serve to set up a date with Davidovich Fokina.

After defeating the 11th seed Cameron Norrie, the eighth seed Taylor Fritz, and the seventh seed Gabriel Diallo this week, the defending Acapulco champion is currently 31-16 in 2023 and 6-3 at the Canadian Open.

Head-to-Head

Davidovich Fokina has defeated Alex De Minaur in two of their three encounters, most recently triumphing in three sets in the Queen’s second round of last year.

Predictions

De Minaur and Davidovich Fokina both like dominating opponents from the baseline, but that is where the similarities between their playing strategies end.

Both players move well, but the Spaniard is a huge server and a powerful striker off either wing while Alex De Minaur is more of a counterpuncher. With a hardcourt record of 143-81 and six titles, the Australian has the advantage over Davidovich Fokina, who has a surface record of 45-46.

Both players have lost one set in four matches this week, but Alex de Minaur should win because of his aggression.

Alex de Minaur to win in 3 sets. (2-1) 
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