Adelaide International 2
Davidovich Fokina downs Vacherot as title bid gathers pace in Adelaide
Top seed faces Humbert next; Paul, Machac set SF clash
January 15, 2026
Sarah Reed/Getty Images
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is competing as the top seed on the ATP Tour for the first time.
By Jerome Coombe
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina continued his push for a maiden ATP Tour title on Thursday evening at the Adelaide International, where he powered into the semi-finals.
The 26-year-old Spaniard carved a series of stunning angles and winners to defeat reigning Shanghai champion Valentin Vacherot 7-6(4), 6-2. Davidovich Fokina, who has reached five ATP Tour finals — including two in which he held championship points in 2025 — is rising to the occasion in Adelaide, where he is competing as the top seed for the first time in his career.
“I knew his serve was amazing,” Davidovich Fokina said of Vacherot, who hit 15 aces according to Infosys ATP Stats. “I tried my best to return his serve… It was like playing against [John] Isner. The key was to be focused and I [have] improved my level every game.”
On a roll! 💪@alexdavidovich1 takes out Vacherot in straight sets to reach the Adelaide semi-finals!@AdelaideTennis | #AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/sXOzB1Dn7g
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 15, 2026
Into his 12th semi-final, Davidovich Fokina will face fourth seed Ugo Humbert, who fired 32 winners en route to dispatching qualifier Alexander Shevchenko 6-0, 6-3 in just 57 minutes.
Earlier, second seed Tommy Paul continued his impressive form in Adelaide by defeating Aussie Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2 to reach his third semi-final at the ATP 250 event. Paul, the former No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, missed the final three months of the 2025 season due to a lingering foot injury and returned last week in Brisbane, where he fell to big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round.
“I’m just happy to be back out here. It was a long end of the year for me, and to be back in Australia playing great tennis, I’m really happy,” said Paul, who also reached the Australian Open semi-finals in 2023. “All the tournaments in Australia, they do a good job of keeping most of the courts the same speed, and they seem to match up with my game.”
Paul will next face Tomas Machac, who beat Jaume Munar 6-4, 6-4 to advance to his first semi-final since winning his only ATP Tour title in Acapulco last February. The eighth-seeded Czech takes a 2-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead into his clash with Paul, who won their most recent meeting in Rome last year.
Machac arrived in Adelaide having not won a tour-level match since his Shanghai opener in October, but he is yet to drop a set across three dominant victories this week.
