Injustice as motivation?

Fokina wasn’t selected to play in the Davis Cup with Spain, and he’s obviously hurt.

Fokina’s an emotional guy, a player who wears his heart on his sleeve, and seeing him get snubbed for the Davis Cup when he’s clearly Spain’s second-best player this season is an injustice. He said that at the start of his match against Sonego he was mentally distracted and thinking about something other than the match; it’s true he pretty much threw away the first few games before getting back into it and finally playing his tennis. I wonder if he won’t use that to make a deep run this week and prove he should’ve been selected. He’s also laid out his ambitions for next season, which he’s already preparing for—it’s cool to see him so invested at the end of the year. On the other hand, I think past a certain point whatever keeps him motivated on court collapses, like against Collignon last week—he can blow up in midair. And Brooksby is kind of the perfect matchup to make that happen: the American is the definition of tenacity, he never gives up, and he’s going to put up one hell of a fight against Foki. I thought he looked sharp in the first round even if Muller was clearly not at full fitness. He played with a lot of depth and tactically he’s top-class; he can manage to break Foki’s rhythm and force him into hitting wild just to win points. I trust the American a bit more mentally, but I think Fokina can easily outplay him and smother him with his intensity—it’s a double-edged sword. A match with momentum swings and very different sets seems likely given the profiles of these two players.