The American Dream is called Davidovich

Andrés Tomás Rico | 27 Jul 2025 | 07.16

The American Dream is called Davidovich. Photo: Getty Images.

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And without making much noise, Alejandro Davidovich knocked out the two favorites at ATP Washington. The Spanish tennis player arrived in the United States with the intention of having a more consistent run on hard courts compared to clay or grass. And, so far, he is living up to expectations because in two days he has defeated the two favorites. In the quarterfinals, he beat Taylor Fritz (7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5) and today Ben Shelton (6-2, 7-5) to reach the final of the American tournament and once again fight for his first ATP title, this time against Alex de Miñaur. Whatever happens tomorrow, the Malaga native will be celebrating because he has broken his ranking ceiling by entering the Top 20 (19th) for the first time, and a win against the Australian would place him as number 17 in the world.

If the match against Taylor Fritz was closely contested, against Shelton the Spanish player dominated from the start. The American's lack of effectiveness on first service (55%) was a big factor, but Davidovich was always ready and capitalized on two double faults in the same game by the player from Atlanta, breaking in the fifth game.

An energetic Davidovich, a disoriented Shelton

Davidovich was very solid, despite the physical toll from the day before against Fritz after coming back from 5-2 down in the third set and finishing at two in the morning, while Shelton had yet to show up on the Washington center court. However, the Spaniard was not taking any chances and again broke the erratic American's serve, who was playing blocked, without ideas and accumulating unforced errors, to take the first set 6-2 in 28 minutes.

Everything was going smoothly, but Shelton made a comeback, his serve returned to form, and the balance of power shifted. The Spanish player had a break point in the fifth game, but failed to capitalize on it. However, he succeeded two games later. He was one step away from reaching the Washington final, but Shelton kept fighting and broke back in the next game.

But not even this missed opportunity unsettled Davidovich, who continued with the established plan: strong legs and aggressiveness. In fact, he handled a dangerous 30-30 situation with composure when Shelton was serving to take the set. 5-5 and everything to play for.

The set reached a climax, and an error by the umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, ultimately took the American out of the match. The Swede did not call a let on a serve and the point continued until Shelton missed an easy shot. The referee apologized, but the player from Atlanta was already out of the game. He faltered again on his serve, and a passing shot from Davidovich sealed the deal.

In the Top 20 and one match away from his first ATP title

And when the pressure was at its peak, the Spaniard remained composed and closed out a match where he dominated from start to finish (6-2, 7-5) and capitalized on Shelton's unforced errors and poor serving. The Spanish player was smiling as he is once again on the verge of clinching his first title, and he will do so while achieving his best ATP ranking of 19th in the world.

"It has been the work of my entire team for many months. All the effort we have put in to reach another final this year is very special for us. I knew that with Shelton there wouldn’t be very long exchanges and that it would be a very fast match. It is always special to defeat a Top 10 player, one of the best in the world," said Davidovich, who will face Alex de Miñaur as the final hurdle to achieve the great American dream.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El sueño americano se llama Davidovich