De Minaur Battles Past Davidovich Fokina

Top-seeded Aussie Alex de Minaur held off a determined Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Tuesday at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, winning eight of the last nine games to prevail 4-2, 3-4(5), 4-1, 4-1 in Group A

De Minaur arrived in Milan at a career-high No. 18 in the ATP Rankings. The 20-year-old used the momentum from his runner-up finish at last year’s event (l. To Tsitsipas) to create a breakout season that includes his first three ATP Tour titles at the Sydney International (d. Seppi), BB&T Atlanta Open (d. Fritz) and Huajin Securities Zhuhai Championships (d. Mannarino). He further proved his mettle indoors by reaching the final two weeks ago at the Swiss Indoors Basel. (l. to Federer).

The Aussie joined Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic as the winners from Group A in Tuesday’s day session. Action in Group B kicks off in the night session, with Swede Mikael Ymer taking on Frenchman Ugo Humbert and second-seeded American Frances Tiafoe squaring off with Italian Jannik Sinner.

More to follow…