Alex de Minaur hailed for classy act immediately after winning epic Washington Open final
De Minaur miraculously saved three championship points before defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) to capture one of the biggest titles of his career.
The seventh seed came back from 2-5 down in the deciding set and saved match points on his own serve at 4-5.
Davidovich Fokina was in tears after the match as he struggled to comprehend how he failed to win.
As the shattered Spaniard sat on his bench, De Minaur came over and consoled his beaten opponent.
He can be seen saying words of encouragement to his rival and putting his arm around his shoulder.
Fans quickly praised De Minaur for the move.
'Not sure what you can even say in this moment if you're Alex, but consoling him like this literally makes my heart happy,' one fan said.
'What a guy! Alex,' another said.
'Demon is a class act,' another said.
'All class from Demon. Heartbreaking for ADF for another finals loss. Positive takeaway for ADF is it's only a matter of time till he wins his first career title!' another said.
Davidovich Fokina looked set to win the match earlier in the third set, but de Minaur produced his trademark scrambling with an incredible passing shot that came after a miraculous lob that landed right on the line.
Seventh seed de Minaur, who lost in straight sets to Germany's Alexander Zverev in the 2018 Washington final, improved to a tour-leading 21 hard-court wins for the season by beating Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the semis.
On Monday (AEST), Davidovich Fokina, the Spanish 12th seed, was broken early in the opening set but responded immediately for 2-2. He gained the advantage again in the 11th game before serving it out in 66 minutes.
It lit a fire under the Aussie, who went up 3-0 in the second and broke again to take it to a third set.
But he dropped serve for 3-1 in the decider, before breaking back when Davidovich Fokina was serving for the championship at 5-3.
The 'Demon' went on to claim a breaker littered with unforced errors by his opponent.
De Minaur will return to the top 10 in the rankings after reaching the decider. His 42 wins at ATP 500 level since the start of the 2023 season is the most by any player on tour.
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