Spanish tennis player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina took on an unexpected challenge in London as he prepared for the HSBC Championships at The Queen’s Club. The 27-year-old joined the Lexus ATP Head2Head challenge, swapping his racket for lawn bowls on grass, a different test of precision and control from professional tennis. The activity took place ahead of the ATP 500 grass-court tournament, part of the run-up to Wimbledon.
Presenter Pippa Horn guided Davidovich Fokina through the rules and format. Seeded fourth at the Championships, he said he enjoyed returning to London and competing on grass, while acknowledging that lawn bowls pushed him outside his usual comfort zone. He said his strengths leaned more toward power than precision, and approached the challenge with humor and openness.
At the time, Davidovich Fokina had recently moved into the Top 25 of the PIF ATP Rankings, a rise he attributed to greater consistency and confidence on tour. His London appearance paired tournament preparation with a fan-facing event that brought players into a less familiar sporting setting. He also competed in the Championships’ draw, including a round-of-32 match against Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
The London event offered a change of pace during the grass-court season, when players adapt their games to a surface distinct from the clay courts common in Spain. Davidovich Fokina’s career later showed his success extended across surfaces: in October 2026, he won the Rolex Shanghai Masters on hard courts, defeating fellow Spaniard Rafael Jódar 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final. It was his first ATP Masters 1000 title, following a run to the final that included a three-set semifinal comeback against top seed Alexander Zverev.
The Shanghai title marked a major shift in Davidovich Fokina’s results after he had lost his first five ATP Tour finals. He entered the final as the No. 25 seed, recovered from a set down to beat Jódar, then rose from No. 26 to a career-high No. 13 in the ATP rankings with 2,880 points. The contrast between the light-hearted lawn-bowls challenge in London and the high-stakes title run in Shanghai captures the breadth of his 2026 season, from grass-court preparation to a breakthrough Masters 1000 championship.
