Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had some pretty harsh words about the 2025 Canadian Open schedule, claiming tournament organizers treated him unfairly. But things got heated when a fellow ATP player absolutely slammed him for complaining.
The Spanish player had just come off a heartbreaking loss at the Citi Open in Washington. He was so close to beating Alex de Minaur – even had match points – but lost in a deciding set tiebreak.
Talk about crushing.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | 26 | 1,240 | 10 - 12 |
But Davidovich Fokina bounced back quickly. Three days later in Toronto, he beat Corentin Moutet to earn a spot against Jakub Mensik. That’s when things went sideways.
The 26-year-old was furious about his match time with the Czech player. While every other match that day started at 12:30 p.m. or later, his was scheduled for 11 a.m. That meant waking up really early since they were staying an hour away from the venue.
He didn’t hold back on social media.
"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."
The Spaniard said he tried to get the schedule changed but got shut down. Tournament officials told him everything was already set – tickets sold, TV rights locked in, the whole deal.
"We’ve asked for a change, but the answer was that everything has already been sold, tickets, TV rights, etc. Once again, it’s clear that players are not taken into consideration. Today it happened to others, tomorrow it’s me, and from the day after, all matches return to 12:30. There are plenty of available courts, yet we’re the only ones playing at 11:00."
He wasn’t done yet.
"The ATP always promises they’ll fix things, but nothing ever changes. This isn’t the first time it happens, and when you’re inside, you realise it’s not as great as it looks from the outside."
Evans Fires Back
Daniel Evans, who’s known for being brutally honest, saw those comments and absolutely lost it. The British player took to Instagram to call out Davidovich Fokina’s complaints.
"Wake up and play. The world wakes up 9-5 even 8-6. Pathetic."
Ouch.
Evans has been pretty consistent about this kind of thing. While lots of players like Taylor Fritz complain that the tennis season is too long and there’s not enough rest time, Evans thinks players need to be careful about whining too much.
During this year’s grass-court season, he pointed out that plenty of people around the world work really hard for way less money than ATP Top 100 players make. And they wake up early every single day.
When Complaints Make Sense
Look, some scheduling complaints are totally fair. Remember when Alexander Zverev and Jenson Brooksby had to finish their 2022 Mexican Open match at 4:55 a.m.?
That’s actually insane.
But an 11 a.m. start time? That’s pretty standard at tennis tournaments all year long. Most fans seemed to agree with Evans on this one – it’s really not that big a deal.
Coco Gauff showed what real adversity looks like at the same Canadian Open. She managed to win her opening match against Danielle Collins despite hitting an incredible 23 double faults.
Now that’s overcoming the odds, not complaining about waking up early for an 11 a.m. match.
