Opponent in tears after final choke as Alex De Minaur saves three championship points to clinch 10th career title
Aussie star Alex de Minaur miraculously saved three championship points and came back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to clinch his 10th ATP Tour title on Monday.
The 26-year-old downed No.12 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) in a thrilling final to win the tournament and secure about $640,000 in prize money.
It is De Minaur's eighth career title on hard courts. He was runner-up at the same tournament in 2018.
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It looked like he would fall at the final hurdle again when Fokina raced out to a big lead in the third set.
But De Minaur fought back and saved three championship points, before winning the tiebreak to seal an epic victory.
Alex De Minaur of Australia celebrates winning the Washington Open. Getty
De Minaur will rise to No.8 in the world on the back of the win.
Fokina dropped to 0-4 in tournament finals and he slumped to his chair in tears following the match. He remains the highest-ranked man without a title.
"I want to say congrats to Alex. He deserved the win," Fokina told the crowd afterwards.
"He was fighting every f---ing ball."
In a show of pure class, De Minaur walked over to a crying Fokina and sat beside him on his chair and gave some words of encouragement.
And in his victory speech he began with a tribute to his opponent.
"I wanna start with Alejandro, as I told you and your team, you're way too good to not have one of these," De Minaur said.
"It's coming for sure. You deserved it today. I just got lucky.
"You are a hell of a competitor and player. No one on the tour wants to play you.
"This is not the end. It's only going up for you."
De Minaur is yet to win a major and will be eyeing the US Open, which begins August 24.
