In the second round of the 2023 Mallorca Championships, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had a game to forget. Davidovich Fokina easily defeated Kotov in the first set, 6-2, but Kotov, rated No. 116, upped his game in the second. A contentious incident occurred when Kotov hit Davidovich Fokina in the body with a volley to tie the score at 15 all in the fourth game of the second set.
Hitting an opponent at the net is within the rules. However, if there are some other options, it will be better not to try to hurt your opponent (sportsmanship). The Spanish player was not impressed by that. Here is the video.
Ok this is the aggro sweetspot.
Well done everybody. (Including @TennisTV).
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) June 28, 2023
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in 2023
Now the world no.34, Davidovich Fokina played his last match on the 27th of June when he lost to world no.116 Pavel Kotov 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the 2nd round in Mallorca (draw).
During this season Alejandro owns a 19-16 win-loss record.
Davidovich Fokina will compete next at the Wimbledon (Wimbledon). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 3rd of July.
Kotov in Mallorca, ranking, and results in 2023
Now the world no.116, Pavel achieved a 25-20 record in 2023. Kotov is participating in Mallorca where he defeated the world no.350 Fernando Verdasco 6-1 7-65, the world no.247 Li Tu 7-64 6-3 and the world no.34 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 2-6 6-3 6-4.
Pavel Kotov will take on the world no.298 Lloyd Harris in the quarter. They have never played each other up to now in top tournaments.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Pavel Kotov faced off only on 2 occasions. Their head to head is 2-0 for Kotov. The last time they fought against each other, Pavel Kotov won 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the 2nd round in Mallorca (Mallorca Championships) on the 27th of June 2023.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
