Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has written his name into the history of tennis in Mallorca. The Spaniard claimed the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Championships title on Saturday after defeating American Ethan Quinn in the final, becoming the first Spanish player to win an ATP singles title on the island since Alberto Martín lifted the former Mallorca Open trophy in 2001 with victory over Argentina's Guillermo Coria. Spain had waited 25 years to celebrate another men's singles champion in Mallorca.

Since emotion Group launched the first WTA tournament in Mallorca in 2016, no Spanish player had managed to win a singles title on the island. Caroline Garcia (2016), Anastasija Sevastova (2017), Tatjana Maria (2018) and Sofia Kenin (2019) all won the women’s event at the Mallorca Country Club before the current ATP 250 grass-court tournament was introduced in 2021. In this new era, Roberto Bautista Agut had been the only Spaniard to reach the final, finishing runner-up to Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022. Before Davidovich's triumph, Daniil Medvedev (2021), Tsitsipas (2022), Christopher Eubanks (2023), Alejandro Tabilo (2024) and Tallon Griekspoor (2025) had all added their names to the list of champions.

The previous Spanish singles title in Mallorca dated back to 2001, when Alberto Martín defeated Guillermo Coria in the final of the ATP International Series, the equivalent of today’s ATP 250 category. Two years earlier, Juan Carlos Ferrero had also lifted the trophy after defeating Àlex Corretja in an all-Spanish final.

The most memorable moment from those early editions, however, came in 1998, when Carlos Moyà reached the inaugural final against Gustavo Kuerten in front of a packed Plaza de Toros in Palma. The Mallorcan came close to winning the title but eventually lost to the Brazilian in three sets.

Spanish tennis had enjoyed more success in doubles in Calvià. María José Martínez won two doubles titles during the WTA era, while David Vega Hernández claimed the Mallorca Championships doubles crown in 2022. However, no Spaniard had lifted the singles trophy until Davidovich’s victory, which brings an ATP title back to Mallorca for Spanish tennis after a quarter of a century.

Professional tennis will return to the island later this year with the second edition of the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Women’s, a WTA 125 tournament to be held from 10 to 18 October at the Mallorca Country Club. The inaugural edition, played last October, was won by Argentina’s Solana Sierra, the top seed and then world number 86, who defeated Serbia’s Lola Radivojevic 6-3, 6-1 in the final. The women’s tournament will continue to strengthen Mallorca’s position as a host of top-level professional tennis throughout the year.