SHANGHAI, OCT 18 (IANS): Alejandro Davidovich Fokina earned the biggest title of his career on Sunday when he rallied past his countryman Rafael Jodar to win the Shanghai Masters crown.
The 27-year-old Spaniard was trailing by a set and a break at 1-6, 2-3 before sealing a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy.
En route to the final, Fokina had saved a match point against Frances Tiafoe in the third round and also rallied from a set down to beat both Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev.
With his two-hour, 28-minute win, Fokina claimed his third and biggest ATP Tour trophy. Having lost his first five tour-level finals, including his only previous Masters 1000 championship match in Monte Carlo in 2022, he has now won his past three after his title runs in Mallorca and Chengdu earlier this year, ATP reports.
Both men were trying to claim their maiden ATP Masters 1000 title. Jodar was competing in his first title match at the Masters 1000 level, but it was Fokina, who was competing in his second Masters 1000 final, went on to lift the title, having reached the final at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2022. After clinching the Masters 1000 crown, Fokina will depart Shanghai with a hefty payday as the winner got USD 1,151,380 prize money, while the runner-up earned USD 612,340. He will now head into the European indoor season on a 10-match winning streak.
Miedler-Oberleitner win doubles title
Austrian pair Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner claimed the biggest title of their newly formed partnership on Sunday, defeating Francisco Cabral and JJ Tracy 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the Shanghai Masters doubles crown.
The Austrian duo completed an unbeaten campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, winning all five matches without conceding a set. Playing inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Miedler and Oberleitner needed 66 minutes to secure the championship, breaking their opponents once in each set to seal the victory. Moreover, Miedler and Oberleitner became the first all-Austrian pairing to win a title in the Masters 1000 series, which began in 1990. Their success in Shanghai came in only their second tournament together.
After reaching the quarter-finals in Tokyo, the pair carried that momentum into China and produced a title-winning performance that exceeded their initial expectations.
The final also highlighted the effectiveness of the Austrians’ serving, as they gave Cabral and Tracy no opportunities to break. According to ATP Stats, Miedler and Oberleitner won 96 per cent of points behind their first serves and did not face a single break point in their first ATP Head2Head meeting with the Portuguese-American combination.
For Miedler, the Shanghai crown became the most significant of his 14 ATP Tour doubles titles. Oberleitner, meanwhile, added another milestone to his career, securing his second tour-level doubles trophy after winning the Winston-Salem title in August alongside Petr Nouza.
The victory was particularly meaningful for the 27-year-old Oberleitner, who expressed his delight at translating his ability into success on one of the sport’s biggest stages. With the partnership already delivering a Masters 1000 title in its second tournament, the Austrian said he was eager to build on the achievement.
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