Monte-Carlo Masters star addresses behaviour after swearing live on Sky Sports

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has explained how he worked on his emotions at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The Spaniard defeated Jack Draper on Thursday and said he struggled mentally, with his mind "saying a lot of bulls***".

The world No. 42 turned things around in Friday's quarter-final, looking in control as he breezed past Alexei Popyrin to win 6-3 6-2. Afterwards, Davidovich Fokina addressed his behaviour against Draper and revealed a crucial chat with his team helped him bounce back.

Davidovich Fokina survived a three-set marathon against British No. 1 Draper in the round of 16, . But the 25-year-old wasn't happy with his performance and made his feelings clear in an interview broadcast by Sky Sports.

"That was not my best tennis and not my best mental strategy. Today was a rollercoaster with my mind. I thought I was playing better but my mind was saying a lot of bulls***," he said.

"I don't know how to control today the emotions. I'm very emotional today to play here. I didn't respect myself first and didn't respect my team and I'm so sorry how I did it today. I'm happy for the win and I'm going to try to improve for tomorrow."

The Spaniard managed to do just that, looking like a different player as he thrashed Popyrin in just an hour and nine minutes. Afterwards, Davidovich Fokina opened up on the work he put in to get a hold on his emotions.

"As I said yesterday, it was a rollercoaster and I spoke with my team yesterday after the match, and that's not the way that I wanted to continue my career," he explained.

"Then I needed to stop from the beginning, then today I did work a lot on my mental things to change that, emotional things, and to be more calm, more consistent. Don't show the emotions."

Davidovich Fokina is now through to the semi-final in Monte-Carlo as he continues his incredible start to the season. With 18 victories under his belt, has already won as many matches this year as he did in 2024.

Explaining his uptick in form, the world No. 42 added: "Winning matches [has made me so good].

"At the end, last year was a tough one. I improved as a person, more maturity. What you can control off the court, on court it's going to be more easy to control those emotions.

"That's what I said before, not like yesterday. But today I prove what I've been doing all year."

A former finalist at the Monte-Carlo Masters, Davidovich Fokina is now through to the last four. It could be an all-Spanish semi-final on Saturday, as he awaits the winner of a contest between Carlos Alcaraz and Arthur Fils.