How Bizarre

Today was meant to be an easy day,  then that is like saying you're going to pub for one drink and normally it ends up scaling walls at 9am the next morning.

The rain had put a dent in the plans of seeing Ugo Humbert against Habib as matches got moved which lead to a clash.  So,  there was only one match for me but it will be memorable.

As anyone who reads this quirky blog knows I am a fan of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and yes that's the match that will be discussed today.   As for Foki,  I might do a piece on him at a later date.

Davidovich Fokina vs. Auger-Aliassime

Foki had a very interesting 2024 it was a success off the court in getting engaged but on the court it was not.  He stop working with his childhood coach and second father Jorge Aguirre,  he felt they went as far as they could.  Briefly started working with Fernando Verdasco,  but now is working with David Sanchez and Felix Mantilla hopefully they can harness the raw talent and minimise the lapses.

FAA on the other hand is definitely a case of too much too young in some ways.   There was a lot of hype around him as a young lad,  then winning Challenger events while going through puberty will do that. Has he lived up to expectations,  that depends on the perspective.  FAA is a very intelligent, fair and well spoken individual,  he maybe too calm on the court.  Started off 0-8 in finals but now has a much better record.

As for the title how bizarre and how it fits into this match.  Davidovich Fokina vs. Auger-Aliassime match has suspended due to excessive French crowd noise on the adjacent court in the match between Fearnley and Cazaux.   The French fans were so loud that it was interrupting both players with chants,  as they were trying to serve,  as sound travels.  I mean the tous enamble chant is fun and all,  but it was so loud.  They were even cheering for Felix as well.

Supervisor got called to the court and play was suspended until Court 7 was free and they got moved to that court.

Now we got that out of the way.  They played once before at the AO where FAA beat Foki in 4 tie break sers.  There wasn't much between them in the first 2 sets where FAA was looking for one-two combo the serve and dominate with the forehand.  Whereas Foki was fighting and scrapping,  his attitude was excellent today.   FAA took the first 2 sets in tiebreakers, the main difference was Foki missed a couple of serves and FAA took advantage to get the mini breaks being strong enough to close it out.

Both took a break to change their kit. The interesting thing for me was how Foki's attitude was going to be.  Last year here he was listless,  but thankfully he showed resilience and was starting to read FAA's serve better and was able to extend the rallies.   He broke in the 3rd set and was able to take that set.  Foki break early in the 4th as FAA had a bit of a lapse in concentration,  while continuing a good level of play with minimal errors working some good angles to work the bigger opponent around the court.

There was some very interesting officiating as well both FAA and Foki got a warning for slow play.  The Foki first one was unfair,  as the crowd were not stopping as he was ready to serve.  The umpire didn't stop the clock,  but the second he got a point penalty for delay of game as he was not ready to the pace of the server.  Foki blew up and Andreas "I look like parking inspector"  Egli was a busy man and bore the brunt of the frustrations.

Into the 5th set, the fifth game was the turning point as the Foki service game for ages,  at least 10 minutes.   FAA had numerous break points,  but was unable to break serve and this gave Foki confidence to eventually serve out the match while letting out all the emotion of an important win

Having a match suspended because of another crowd is definitely bizarre.

Other stuff    

Alex Vukic managed to upset Seb Korda over 5 sets.

Mensik beat Casper Ruud in 4 sets,  that's not a surprise as the young lad is a big talent.   He,  Machac and Lehecka all won today,  which was a great day for the Czech Republic.

Going to be running on fumes tomorrow,  but the grind must continue.