Alejandro Davidovich Fokina follows up Taylor Fritz DC Open win by powering past Ben Shelton

First it was Learner Tien, then Taylor Fritz, and late Saturday night, Ben Shelton.

What do the Americans have in common with each other? Their Mubadala Citi DC Open campaigns were ended by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Having taken down Fritz at 2 a.m. Saturday, Davidovich Fokina showed few signs of fatigue when he returned to court at Rock Creek Park. The No. 12 seed outpaced the fourth-seeded Shelton, 6-2, 7-5, to reach his third final of the year.

Taking advantage of early first-serve problems by the left-hander, the Spaniard asserted himself with heavy shot-making and aggressive charges to the net. After 28 minutes, a one-set lead was his.

Having twice saved a break point in the second set, a double fault and undercut forehand drop shot from Shelton enabled his opponent to move ahead 4-3. Davidovich Fokina wasn’t able to consolidate though, as his forehand fell apart in handing the break right back.

Energized and with the crowd fully behind him, Shelton dialed up his serve with a confident hold. This year's Australian Open semifinalist came within two points of forcing a decider in the 10th game, but that’s as close as he would get.

At 5-5, 15-15, Shelton pushed an overhead wide after letting a defensive lob bounce. A backhand error then set up Davidovich Fokina with two break points—and he pounced by passing Shelton at the net with a forehand up the line. There was no blinking when it came time to serve it out.

Davidovich Fokina improved to 32-17 on the year, with five of those victories coming against Top 10 opposition. The 26-year-old nearly lifted his maiden trophy at the Delray Beach Open in February, missing a pair of championship points against Miomir Kecmanovic. Two weeks later, he finished runner-up again in Acapulco.

On Sunday, Davidovich Fokina will look to replace those memories with a new script when he takes on Alex de Minaur. The seventh seed ended the run of lucky loser Corentin Moutet with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

De Minaur is 9-9 lifetime in ATP finals and has split his four prior clashes with Davidovich Fokina. The Sydney native will return to the Top 10 Monday and can climb to No. 8 with a win.