"It's clear that players are not taken into consideration": Alejandro Davidovich Fokina slams ATP over Canadian Open schedule

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has criticized the ATP for the scheduling of his Friday match, where he will face 12th seed Jakub Mensik in the third round. The Spaniard debuted with a win in Toronto against Corentin Moutet (6-4, 6-3) and has now reached 33 wins for the season.

A few days ago, the Spaniard was competing in the final of the DC Open, where he fell to Alex de Minaur – squandering three match points – and he is still unable to lift a trophy in his career. However, the Spaniard quickly put that behind him and is now aiming to reach the Round of 16 in Toronto.

However, this Thursday, Davidovich released a press statement criticizing the ATP for the scheduling of his match against Mensik. The Spaniard will be the first player on court for the day. "Today I want to share my disappointment and frustration with the ATP. Tomorrow, every match starts at 12:30, except ours, which has been scheduled at 11:00. We're staying one hour away from the club, which means we have to wake up extremely early to arrive in good condition," mentioned 'Foki'.

"We've asked for a change, but the answer was that everything has already been sold: tickets, TV rights, etc. Once again, it is clear that players are not taken into consideration."

"Today it happened to some, tomorrow it's my turn, and after that, everyone will go back to playing at 12:30. There are many available courts, but we are the only ones scheduled at 11:00. The ATP always promises they'll fix things, but nothing ever changes," added the world No. 19. "This is isn't the first time it happens, and when you're inside, you realize that it is not as great as it looks from the outside."

Davidovich had a great week at the DC Open, reaching the fourth final of his career and the third of the season. However – just like on previous occasions – Davidovich could not clinch the title and had to settle for being the tournament's runner-up. "I’m happy but I’m not thinking about Top 20," Davidovich Fokina told ATPTour.com. "It wasn’t the first goal from the beginning. But now that I’m in the Top 20, obviously I’m happy. But I want more and I want to go for more."

The 26-year-old Spaniard is currently world No. 19 (18th in the live ranking), his best historical ranking. In Washington, he defeated several strong opponents, including Taylor Fritz (1st seed) and Ben Shelton (4th seed), but ultimately fell in the final to de Minaur after squandering three match points before the Australian completed the comeback.

"To be consistent, to be just happy, enjoying. I know the level I can create on court and I think now the people can see that I am [playing] with confidence, power," Davidovich Fokina said. "They [will look at me and think], ‘He is on fire, he is running every ball. He doesn’t do mistakes'. At the end that creates the opponent to think."

Davidovich Fokina also mentioned the players he finds most difficult to face, pointing to Daniil Medvedev, Tommy Paul, and his final opponent from Sunday, de Minaur. "These are guys who to beat them you need to kill them three times to win the match point," Davidovich Fokina said. "In the end those kinds of players are so tough to play. Obviously they are Top 10, but I think they are not easy. I will not say it’s easy to play against other Top 10s, but for me I think these ones are examples to play against other guys."