Alex de Minaur Comes Back to Win Washington Open With Unbelievable Match-Point Save

He fought off a third championship point in incredible fashion.
Alex de Minaur won his 10th ATP Tour title Sunday
Alex de Minaur won his 10th ATP Tour title Sunday / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

ATP world No. 13 Alex de Minaur made a remarkable comeback against world No. 26 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Sunday night to take the Mubadala Citi DC Open title in three sets (5-7, 6-1, 7-6).

The Australian had his back against the wall and saved three championship points for Fokina in the third set to force a tournament-deciding tiebreak, which de Minaur won 7-3. Trailing five games to four in the third set on the verge of getting broken for the loss, de Minaur served to Fokina with the title in the balance.

Fokina hit a strong forehand which de Minaur had to chase, lofting the ball in an effort to save and it barely landed on the line. Fokina rushed to the net to try and finish the job, but de Minaur had one more save in him, hitting a masterful backhand past the Spaniard to bring the game back to deuce.

Check out the incredible sequence below:

That was the third championship point de Minaur fought off, then going on to even the third set at five games apiece before he took the set, and the tournament, in a tiebreak. He came back from down two games to five in the decisive set.

The victory marks his 10th ATP Tour title and first of the year. In his most recent major performance, he fell to Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Now, de Minaur is set to rise back into the world top-10.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.