After winning two of his last three tournaments, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has hit an unexpected setback ahead of the Swiss Indoors in Basel. The Spaniard recently captured his biggest title to date at the Shanghai Masters, defeating Rafael Jodar in the final. This triumph had set up an outside chance for him to qualify for the ATP Finals. But the withdrawal from Swiss Indoors has all but ended those hopes.

Fokina has pulled out of the tournament due to a gastric infection. He hasn’t been able to train for the last few days. He was scheduled to take on Zizou Bergs in the opening round, but that match won’t go ahead. This leaves Fokina in 16th position in the Race to the ATP Finals with 2,450 points. He will have to clinch the Paris Masters title to stand a chance of reaching the year-end tournament, but his participation in the tournament isn’t confirmed yet.

Fokina’s participation in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup is also in jeopardy. He had initially been expected to be a part of the Spanish squad, but with team captain David Ferrer set to announce his squad on July 26, his chances of being included appear to be very slim.

The setback couldn’t have occurred at a worse time for Fokina, as he has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP circuit for the last few weeks. He lifted the Chengdu Open title in late September, defeating Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 7-6 in the final. Though the 27-year-old got knocked out in the first round of the Japan Open against Matteo Berrettini, he followed it up with a sensational run in Shanghai.

Fokina lifted his maiden Masters 1000 title after defeating the likes of Frances Tiafoe, Alexander Zverev and Rafael Jodar in the process. This was his third title victory of the season, as he had previously triumphed at the Mallorca Championships as well. The victory in Shanghai saw him rise 13 places and reach the 13th position on the ATP Rankings.

A deep run in Basel could have resulted in Fokina having a good chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals. But now it appears that Jodar and Carlos Alcaraz will be the only Spaniards who will reach the year-end tournament. Jodar’s place isn’t confirmed yet, so he will be featuring at the Swiss Indoors and is scheduled to face Alejandro Tabilo in the opening round.

Coming back, Fokina’s withdrawal from Basel has led to the reshuffling of the draw. Two of the matches have been affected, and the one who has arguably benefitted from this is Arthur Fils.

Hubert Hurkacz will now play Zizou Bergs instead of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

Hurkacz was initially supposed to play Fils in the first round. But Fokina’s withdrawal means that the Pole will now enter the tournament as the 10th seed and will take on Bergs instead.

Hurkacz could have been a tricky opponent for Fils in the first match, but he will now be facing his compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The latter made it through the qualifying rounds to reach the main draw. Fils will be the favorite to advance over Perricard and is also among the favorites to lift the title.

Fils is another player who is fighting for a place in the ATP Finals. He currently sits in seventh place with 3,425 points and is the only Frenchman in contention for reaching the year-end event. A deep run at the Swiss Indoors could see him confirm his spot in the ATP Finals. It remains to be seen how far Fils will manage to go in Basel.