Fabio Fognini

Fabio Fognini

Country	Italy
Residence	Arma di Taggia, Italy
Born	(1987-05-24) 24 May 1987 Sanremo, Italy
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro	2004
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es)	Jose Perlas
Prize money	$4,195,958
Official website	fabiofognini.it
Singles
Career record	153–163
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 15 (27 January 2014)
Current ranking	No. 15 (27 January 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (2014)
French Open	QF (2011)
Wimbledon	3R (2010)
US Open	3R (2012)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	81–88
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 32 (20 June 2011)
Current ranking	No. 48 (27 January 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2013)
French Open	2R (2009, 2011)
Wimbledon	1R (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013)
US Open	SF (2011)
Mixed Doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2013)
Wimbledon	2R (2012, 2013)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	QF (2013, 2014)
Last updated on: 29 July 2013.

Fabio Fognini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfaːbjo foɲˈɲiːni]; born 24 May 1987 in Sanremo, Italy) is a professional tennis player and the current Italian No. 1.

His career-high singles ranking is World No. 15, which he achieved in January 2014. Fognini's favourite surface is red clay, on which he won his two ATP singles titles in Stuttgart and Hamburg, reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open and the semifinals of the 2013 Monte-Carlo Masters.

Early life

Fognini was born to Silvana and Fulvio, a businessman, and has a younger sister named Fulvia.^[1] He began playing tennis when he was four years old and is also a fan of football, supporting Inter Milan and Genoa FC. He also enjoys motorbike racing and is a fan of Valentino Rossi. Fognini speaks Italian, English, Spanish, and French, and his nickname is "Fogna".

Career

Juniors

As a junior, Fognini posted a singles win/loss record of 72–36 and reached a combined ranking of No. 8 in the world in May 2004.^[2]

Tournament	2003	2004
Junior Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	QF
French Open	Q2	QF
Wimbledon	1R	1R
US Open	1R	2R

2004–2006

Fognini began his professional career by playing a variety of Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning his first Futures title in 2005 at Spain No. 1 and another at Italy No. 9. In 2005, he also finished runner-up at Italy No. 3 and qualified for his first ATP Challenger tournament at Palermo. During 2006, Fognini had moderate success at Challengers and, after qualifying, made his debut on the ATP World Tour at Buenos Aires. He was defeated in the first round by former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, the eventual champion.

2007

In 2007, Fognini made some real progress on the ATP Tour, notably when he qualified for the 2007 French Open to make his first appearance in a Grand Slam event. He lost in the first round to World No. 35 Juan Mónaco in five sets. In addition, he had a fantastic tournament at the 2007 Rogers Masters in Montreal, Canada. Having qualified for the tournament, he defeated Peter Polansky in the first round, before taking out the 13th seed Andy Murray in straight sets. Fognini was halted by World No. 1 Roger Federer in the third round.^[3]

On the ATP Challengers circuit, Fognini made the finals in Santiago, Sanremo, and Fürth, losing in three-set battles each time. Partnering Frederico Gil, he also lost in the doubles final of the Fürth Challenger. He finished the year ranked in the top 100 for the first time at No. 94.

2008

Fognini lost a five-set first-round encounter against Michael Russell in the 2008 Australian Open.

During the South American clay swing, he reached the quarterfinals of Viña del Mar (defeating second seed clay-court specialist Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round) and the semifinals of Costa Do Sauipe.

After missing the 2008 French Open due to injury problems, Fognini reached the semifinals of both Warsaw and Umag (beating former World No. 1 and French Open champion Carlos Moyá), whilst also winning the Turin and Genova challengers, further enhancing his clay pedigree.

2009

In April 2009, Fognini reached the third round of the 2009 Monte-Carlo Masters as a qualifier, upsetting Tomáš Berdych (after losing the first set 1–6) and 14th seed Marin Čilić (for the loss of only two games). Fognini then played a typically topsy-turvy match with World No. 4 Andy Murray, losing in two tight sets after being up 5–0 in the first set.

2010

Fognini's biggest win to date was the victory over 13th seed Gaël Monfils at the 2010 French Open by coming from two sets to love down in a match that spanned two days. In June 2010, Fognini followed up his vein of good form as he defeated Fernando Verdasco, the 8th seed, in the first round of Wimbledon without dropping serve the entire match.

2011: Grand Slam quarterfinal

In 2011 Fognini achieved a number of breakthroughs. He reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time at the 2011 French Open. He defeated Denis Istomin in the first round and qualifier Stéphane Robert in the second. In the third round, Fognini beat Guillermo García-López, the 30th seed, in four sets to advance to his first Grand Slam fourth round. Here, he made the quarterfinals in dramatic fashion as he beat Spaniard Albert Montañés in a match lasting 4 hours and 22 minutes.^[4] Barely able to walk at the end, Fognini eventually prevailed and clinched the epic match 11–9 in the fifth set. After the match, he described his run at the French Open as a "little dream", maintaining that he "would love to play the next match ... even if I'm only at 50 percent".^[5] He was due to face World No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals but, prior to the match, he announced that he had made the "difficult" decision to withdraw on doctors' advice that it would be "dangerous" to play.^[4] Nonetheless, Fognini became the first Italian man in the French Open quarterfinals since 1995 and the first to reach that stage at a Grand Slam since 1998.^[6] His achievement saw him rise to a then career-high singles ranking of World No. 32.

With Simone Bolelli, Fognini reached the semifinals of the 2011 US Open men's doubles.

2012: First ATP finals

After numerous ATP semifinal appearances, Fognini finally reached his first career final at Bucharest in April 2012, ousting fifth seed Marcos Baghdatis and sixth seed Andreas Seppi along the way. He finished runner-up to top seed Gilles Simon.

At the 2012 French Open, he was once again the subject of much drama, saving two match points while battling past the seeded Viktor Troicki in five sets to advance to the third round for the third successive year. He subsequently lost to World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a match with considerable shot-making flair and variety. In the Croatia Open, Fabio lost to defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the second round.^[7]

Fognini began his grass season by reaching the quarterfinals of Eastbourne, defeating fourth seed Bernard Tomic along the way, and falling to eventual tournament winner Andy Roddick in a tight three-set match. At Wimbledon, he defeated experienced grass-courter Michaël Llodra in the first round and again lost to the eventual tournament winner, Roger Federer, in the second round. In the London 2012 Olympics, Fognini was drawn against Novak Djokovic in the first round. He valiantly took the first set after being down 3–5 and saving three set points, before finally succumbing in three sets.^[8]

Starting the North American summer outdoor hard-court season by qualifying for both the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters, Fognini went on to reach the third round of the US Open, a career-best performance. In the first round, he ousted Édouard Roger-Vasselin in a trademark five-setter, coming back from two sets down. The second round was a routine straight-sets win over Guillermo García-López. Fognini's run again ended at the hands of crowd favourite Andy Roddick in a dramatic match (in which he notably out-aced the American) in four sets. Roddick had announced after his first-round win that he was retiring upon conclusion of the tournament, adding to the drama.

The start of the indoor hard-court season saw Fognini reach his second final of the year at St. Petersburg, finishing runner-up to Martin Kližan.^[9]

2013: ATP titles and Top 20 ranking

Fognini was defeated by Roberto Bautista-Agut in five sets in the first round of the 2013 Australian Open.^[10] He and Bolelli embarked on another deep Grand Slam run in the doubles, reaching the semifinals, where they lost to the World No. 1 pair, Bob and Mike Bryan.

He reached his first singles quarterfinal of the season at Buenos Aires, losing to top seed David Ferrer in straight sets (whilst winning the doubles alongside Bolelli). The next week, Fognini achieved a career-best performance at ATP 500 events with a semifinals showing in Acapulco, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka along the way and again losing to Ferrer (but this time taking a set).^[11] Just over a week later, Fognini set up a clash with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, after defeating Aljaž Bedene for the second time in three weeks to reach the second round of the Indian Wells Masters. After being bagelled in the first, Fognini wildly celebrated upon winning his first game in the second, heroically taking the set from 2–4 down. He subsequently lost the third.^[12] In Miami, Fognini was seeded at a Masters event for the first time in his career, earning a bye to the second round. He defeated Michaël Llodra, and lost to Ferrer again in the third round.

The start of the European clay season saw Fognini gain another top 20 victory, defeating fellow Italian Andreas Seppi in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters in a typically tumultuous affair with an almost complete lack of momentum.^[13] He carried on his rich vein of form to straight-set both Albert Ramos and No. 4 seed Tomáš Berdych (his second victory over the Czech in Monte Carlo) to reach his first career quarterfinal in a Masters event.^[14] Here, Fognini played another amazing match to beat Richard Gasquet, his second top-10 victory in a row, in straight sets to reach the semifinals of a Masters for the first time, projecting his ranking to a new career-high of World No. 24.^[15] In the semifinals, he failed to gain any real rhythm, losing to World No. 1 Djokovic. In Madrid, Fognini was involved in another highly unorthodox match, losing in a final set tiebreak to Mikhail Youzhny in the first round. He served for the match at *5–4 in the third, having three match points at 40–0. Fognini then lost nine points in a row, only to save two match points himself at *5–6 15–40. In the tiebreak, he went up a minibreak, lost five points in a row, won four in a row and lost.^[16] At the French Open, he lost in the third round to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.

Fognini began his grass-court season at the 2013 Aegon International held at Eastbourne, where he was seeded eighth. He defeated Grega Zemlja and Martin Klizan, both from a set down, before falling to Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals.^[17] At Wimbledon, Fognini lost in the first round to Jürgen Melzer, after leading by a set and a break.^[18]

At the 2013 MercedesCup in Stuttgart, Fognini reached his third career final, defeating top seed and home favourite Tommy Haas en route. He won his maiden title, by beating second seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in three sets. The following week, after an outstanding performance at 2013 International German Open, Fognini improved his winning streak to 10 wins in a row, entering the ATP top 20 for the first time (also regaining the Italian No. 1 spot). He defeated Albert Ramos, Marcel Granollers and hometown hero Tommy Haas for the second time in two weeks to reach the semifinals. Here, Fognini beat Nicolás Almagro in straight sets to reach his second ATP World Tour final in a row, the first one in an ATP 500 tournament. He won the title by beating qualifier Federico Delbonis in three sets, recovering from 1–4 down in the second set and saving three match points in the second set tiebreak. He reached his third tour final in as many weeks at Umag, defeating Thiemo de Bakker, Martin Kližan and Gaël Monfils en route. The latter saw Fognini serving for the match in the third set up *5–0, only to save 3 match points at *5–6 and win in a tiebreak. His 13-match winning streak was ended in the final by Tommy Robredo, whilst his ranking rose to a new career-high of World No. 16.

Seeded No. 14 in Cincinnati, Fognini was down 2–6, 0–4 to Radek Stepanek. He proceeded to mount a comeback to 4–4, before at 4–5, serving to stay in the match, he served two double faults, received a point penalty for ball abuse and then casually committed consecutive foot faults to get broken to love and lose the match.^[19]

During the Asian hardcourt swing, Fognini reached the quarterfinals of Beijing, defeating resurgent veterans Tommy Robredo and Lleyton Hewitt (the latter for the loss of only 2 games). In the quarters, he was dominating World No. 2 Rafael Nadal by 6–2 and 3–0 40–15*, 4–1 40–30*, before eventually losing in three sets. In the following weeks, he again defeated Robredo en route to the third round of the Shanghai Masters and reached the quarterfinals of Vienna and Valencia.

2014

At the Australian Open, Fognini was seeded 15th. He reached a career-best performance of the fourth round, defeating Alex Bogomolov, Jr., Jarkko Nieminen and Sam Querrey, before falling to three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic.

Davis Cup

Fognini guided Italy into the quarterfinals of the 2013 Davis Cup World Group, defeating Ivan Dodig in the fifth and decisive rubber against Croatia. It was the first time Italy had reached that stage since 1998.^[20] He also guided Italy past Argentina to the quarterfinals the following year, winning both singles rubbers against Juan Monaco and Carlos Berlocq, and the doubles rubber (partnering Simone Bolelli).^[21]

Equipment

Fognini currently uses a Babolat Pure Drive Racquet strung with Babolat RPM Blast strings. His grip is Babolat Vs Original, and he endorses Adidas apparel and shoes.

Style of play

Fognini is known for his counterpunching style, with clean, penetrating ground strokes. Fognini has deft touch and utilises it with drop shots and volleys, particularly off the forehand side.^[22] His ability to turn defense into offense suits clay-court tennis, and this is reflected by the fact that his best wins have come on this surface. His movement and general disposition around the court, coupled with his fluid game style is well known by tennis fans as displaying an air of nonchalance, appearing casual and effortless.

Fognini is also renowned for his streaky temperament. He has been known to lose his cool on occasion; yet on others, he has shown that he is capable of maintaining a strikingly balanced disposition when facing adversity. He holds the record for committing the most foot faults whilst still winning a match: a grand total of 12, including double-faulting due to consecutive foot faults.^[1][22] Fognini's serve is relatively underpowered and hardly a trademark weapon, but he places emphasis on precision and placement, whilst also having the ability to hit above 130 mph on occasion. One of his signature shots is his off forehand, which he uses to great effect, his tactic of play usually consisting of a serve out wide, drawing a weak return, setting Fognini up to hit a clean winner off the forehand side. He also utilises the backhand down-the-line frequently, often in key moments/points during a match.^[8]

ATP career finals

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–3)

Finals by Surface Hard (0–1) Clay (2–2) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	29 April 2012	BRD Năstase Ţiriac Trophy, Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gilles Simon	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	23 September 2012	St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia	Hard (i)	Martin Kližan	2–6, 3–6
Winner	1.	14 July 2013	Stuttgart Open, Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Philipp Kohlschreiber	5–7, 6–4, 6–4
Winner	2.	21 July 2013	International German Open, Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Federico Delbonis	4–6, 7–6(10–8), 6–2
Runner-up	3.	28 July 2013	ATP Vegeta Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia	Clay	Tommy Robredo	0–6, 3–6

Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runners-up)

Winner – Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–3) ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–2)

Titles by Surface Hard (0–1) Clay (2–4) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	14 July 2008	Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia	Clay	Carlos Berlocq	Michal Mertiňák Petr Pála	6–2, 3–6, [5–10]
Runner-up	2.	27 February 2010	Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Potito Starace	Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach	0–6, 0–6
Winner	1.	30 July 2011	ATP Studena Croatia Open, Umag, Croatia	Clay	Simone Bolelli	Marin Čilić Lovro Zovko	6–3, 5–7, [10–7]
Runner-up	3.	14 April 2012	Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Daniele Bracciali	Dustin Brown Paul Hanley	5–7, 3–6
Winner	2.	24 February 2013	Copa Claro, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Simone Bolelli	Nicholas Monroe Simon Stadler	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	2 March 2013	Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Simone Bolelli	Łukasz Kubot David Marrero	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	5.	6 October 2013	China Open, Beijing, China	Hard	Andreas Seppi	Max Mirnyi Horia Tecău	4–6, 2–6

Singles performance timeline

Current till US Open.

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	W–L	%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	Q1	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	4R	4–7	36.36
French Open	A	A	1R	A	1R	3R	QF[a]	3R	3R		10–5	66.67
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	2R	3R	A	2R	1R		4–4	50
US Open	A	A	Q3	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R	1R		3–6	33.33
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–3	2–4	4–4	5–2	5–4	2–4	3–1	21–23	47.73
Davis Cup
Davis Cup Singles	A	A	A	Z1	PO	1R	PO	PO	QF		7–2	77.78
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	Q2	2R	1R	2R	1R	A	2R		3–4	42.86
Miami Masters	A	A	A	A	Q1	1R	1R	A	3R		1–3	25.00
Monte Carlo Masters	A	A	Q1	A	3R	1R	2R	2R	SF		8–5	61.54
Rome Masters	A	1R	Q2	A	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R		3–6	33.33
Madrid Masters	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	Q1	1R	1R		1–5	16.67
Canada Masters	A	A	3R	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R		4–4	50.00
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	A	Q2	2R	1R	1R		1–2	33.33
Shanghai Masters	NM1000				2R	A	1R	1R	3R		3–4	42.86
Paris Masters	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	Q1	2R		1–2	33.33
Win–Loss	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	5–5	3–7	2–8	3–6	9–6		25–36	40.98
Career statistics
Titles–Runners-up	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	2–1		2–3	40%
Year End Ranking	305	257	95	88	54	55	48	45	16		$2,577,176

^a 2011 French Open counts as 4 wins, 0 losses. Novak Djokovic received a walkover in the quarterfinal, after Fognini withdrew because of muscle tear,^[23] does not count as a Fognini loss (nor a Djokovic win).

Doubles performance timeline

Current as far as the US Open.

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	2R	2R	2R	1R	2R	SF		0 / 5	8–5	44.44
French Open	A	2R	1R	2R	1R	1R		0 / 4	2–4	33.33
Wimbledon	A	1R	1R	A	1R	1R		0 / 4	0–4	0
US Open	1R	1R	A	SF	1R	2R		0 / 5	5–5	50
Win–Loss	1–2	2–4	1–3	5–3	1–4	5–4		0 / 20	15–20	38.46

References

External links

• Fabio Fognini at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Fabio Fognini at the International Tennis Federation
• Fognini Recent Match Results
• Fognini World Ranking History
• Fognini official website
• Bio – file interview with Fabio Fognini

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals Top ten Italian male singles tennis players as of 27 January 2014 1. Fabio Fognini (15 1) 2. Andreas Seppi (31 6) 3. Filippo Volandri (73 3) 4. Paolo Lorenzi (107 8) 5. Potito Starace (149 4) 6. Marco Cecchinato (165 2) 7. Matteo Viola (171 7) 8. Flavio Cipolla (182 7) 9. Thomas Fabbiano (183 4) 10. Andrea Arnaboldi (191 21)

Persondata
Name	Fognini, Fabio
Alternative names
Short description	Tennis player
Date of birth	24 May 1987
Place of birth	Sanremo, Italy
Date of death
Place of death