Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has attacked the ATP Tour in a furious statement over what he believes to be unfair scheduling. The Spanish star won his opening match at the Canadian Open, beating Corentin Moutet 6-4 6-3, before crashing out of doubles to British duo Lloyd Grasspool and Julian Cash.
The world No. 19, who just reached the top 20 for the first time in his career, returns to court for his second singles match today. He will kickstart action in Toronto at 11am local time (4pm BST), an hour and a half before any other player takes to the court. He found such scheduling to be unacceptable, and lamented the early journey from his accommodation to the Grandstand Court.
“Today, I want to share my disappointment and frustration with ATP,” Davidovich Fokina said. “Tomorrow, every match starts at 12:30 except ours, which has been scheduled at 11:00.
“We are staying one hour away from the club, which means we have to wake up extremely early to arrive in good condition. We have asked for a change, but the answer was that everything has already been sold, including tickets and TV rights.
“Once again, it’s clear that players are not taken into consideration. Today, it happens to others, tomorrow it’s me, and from the day after, all matches return to 12:30. There are plenty of available courts, and yet we are the only ones playing at 11:00.
“The ATP always promises they will fix things, but nothing ever changes. This is not the first time it has happened, and when you are inside, you realise it’s not as great as it looks from the outside.”
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Having had his requests to reschedule the match rejected out of hand, Davidovich Fokina will face Jakub Mensik at the previously agreed time for a place in the last 16.
He is hoping to go one better than his runner-up at the Citi Open, having squandered three championship points against Alex de Minaur and missed out on lifting his first ATP trophy.
Davidovich Fokina was comforted on the court by his Aussie opponent, before insisting that he is desperate for more success and that cracking the top 20 was only the start.
The 26-year-old said: “I’m happy but I’m not thinking about top 20. It wasn’t the first goal from the beginning. But now that I’m in the top 20, obviously I’m happy. But I want more and I want to go for more.”
He has enjoyed a surge in form, having previously dipped to world No. 68 in January, before making changes to his coaching team.
When asked for the formula to success, Davidovich Fokina replied: “Keep winning. Keep winning.”
And he will hope to do that, albeit at a frustrating time of day, against Mensik in Canada.