How Davidovich Fokina Discovered The Power Of Smiling

One of the most stunning moments of Wimbledon came in a third-round match between Holger Rune and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Serving at 8/8 in a final-set tie-break, Davidovich Fokina was tight. Out of nowhere, the Spaniard used an underarm serve, which backfired. Rune quickly won the point before closing out the match for a place in the fourth round.

Davidovich Fokina, Rune, the fans at the All England Club and viewers from around the world were shocked by the Spaniard’s decision to resort to an underarm serve in one of the most important moments of his career. It was a selection that could have made a painful loss even more difficult.

But Davidovich Fokina revealed on Monday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers that while he was disappointed, he shrugged it off by the time he reached the locker room. The Spaniard bantered with his opponent that they had split two crazy matches after defeating Rune in a final-set tie-break earlier in the year in Madrid.

“I was dead, because it was a tough match. But I was okay. Life continues,” Davidovich Fokina told ATPTour.com. “I was a little bit sad obviously, because I wanted to play the next round. I was feeling very good and playing very good. But in the end, I’m here in Toronto and growing my game.”

That attitude is the culmination of a mindset shift Davidovich Fokina has made in the past couple of months. Instead of spending his free time on social media — “I saw that I was wasting a lot of time,” he said — the 24-year-old has turned his attention to reading.

“I started this summer. My coach and my team, everything that they [have] told me, I read that [in the] books. But when you don’t read it by yourself, you don’t realise that you have to do [it] that way,” Davidovich Fokina said. “I’ve already read three books in a couple of months and I was always saying that I couldn’t read one book or one page. Now I did three books!”

All three are personal transformation books: Atomic Habits, The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*** and The Life-Changing Power of Gratitude.

One of Davidovich Fokina’s biggest takeaways was the importance of enjoying himself while competing. One of the most entertaining players on the ATP Tour, the No. 37 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings has often been up and down on court. He is making a concerted effort to smile more during matches.

“I have to smile more and more because when I smile, it’s like my game is going through my body. If I’m happy, my game is going. If I’m angry, I cannot win one point,” Davidovich Fokina said. “I’m trying to be happy, not only on court. Off court, I have to do the same, because when you go on court, you have to be more focused and more on tennis things. But of course, you have to be happy, be humble with all the other [people] [and] to be smiling.

“At the end, we are humans and we are not higher [than] the other ones. We have to be like this.”

Instead of allowing a devastating defeat at Wimbledon to hurt the rest of his season, Davidovich Fokina has flipped his mindset and emerged more positive.

“It’s more than winning and losing. It’s a game. You will lose and you will win. You will win a five-hour battle or you will lose that five-hour battle,” Davidovich Fokina said. “You have to know that it’s going to be like this all your life. When you agree, and you know that it’s going to be like this and you accept it, it’s going to be easier for you.”