Showing posts with label Fabio Fognini. Show all posts
2019 RIO OPEN: Canadian Teen Felix Auger-Aliassime Upsets Italy's Fabio Fognini
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
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| Eighteen-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2019 Rio Open |
RIO DE JANEIRO — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 upset of second-seed Fabio Fognini on Tuesday at the Rio Open tennis tournament.
Fognini, ranked No. 16 in the world, is the highest ranked player to lose to the 104th-ranked Canadian teen. It's Auger-Aliassime's second win over a top-20 opponent after he defeated then No. 18 Lucas Pouille in the opening round of last year's Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Auger-Aliassime, a wild-card in Rio, is expected to move into the top-100 after the tournament. He will next face Chile's Christian Garin, ranked 91 in the world, in the second round.
Showing veteran poise, Auger-Aliassime fended off all five break points he faced while converting three of the five break point presented to him by his Italian opponent. The Canadian's return game was also strong, as he limited Fognini to one ace, and held the veteran to converting on 60 per cent of first serve points and just 45 per cent of second serve points.
Auger-Aliassime's matchup with Fognini was a potential Davis Cup preview. Canada is in a group with Italy and the United States to open the Davis Cup finals, which will be held November in Madrid.
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2014 FRENCH OPEN DAY 9: What!... What!... What!... The Frenchman Takes Out Garcia-Lopez, Sets Up Murray Quarterfinal
Monday, June 2, 2014
Frenchman Gael Monfils celebrates his 4th-round win over Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at the 2014 French Open.
PARIS (Reuters) - Home favorite Gael Monfils reached the quarter-finals of the French Open for the fourth time when he ended the run of unseeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez with a 6-0 6-2 7-5 win on Monday.
The 23rd seed, who also made it to the last eight in 2008, 2009 and 2011, blazed through the first two sets and held off the world number 41 in the third, ending the contest on a sun-drenched court Philippe Chatrier with an ace.
Monfils will face British seventh seed Andy Murray for a place in the last four, a stage he reached in 2008 when he was defeated by Roger Federer.
"In the third set, when I broke him he started to go for his shots and played more freely," Monfils, whose preparations have been hampered by an ankle injury he sustained in early April, said courtside.
"I became too defensive so I had to accelerate again."
No French man has won their home slam since Yannick Noah in 1983.
During the first two sets, Garcia-Lopez was a pale shadow of the player who knocked out world No.3 Stan Wawrinka in the first round.
The Spaniard peppered the court with unforced errors, most of them from his forehand, the very shot that helped him progress to the last 16.
He went 2-0 down in the third before regaining his composure as Monfils, the last French player left in the singles, played too conservatively.
The Frenchman, who had advanced to this round after beating Italian Fabio Fognini in an unforced errors-fest, turned the situation around thanks to some fine returns and, spurred on by the crowd, broke decisively in the 11th game.
Next up is Wimbledon champion Murray, who fought hard to beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco in straight sets.
"He's such an entertainer," Murray said after his match.
"He is one of my favorite players to watch. There's going to be some fun points."
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FRENCH OPEN DAY 7: "Air Monfils" Takes Flight And Takes Out Fognini
Sunday, June 1, 2014
In his usual high-flying style of tennis, Frenchman Gael Monfils gets plenty of air as he hits a backhand to Italy's Fabio Fognini.
PARIS — No. 23 Gael Monfils beat No. 14 Fabio Fognini 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the French Open and, oh, what a spectacle it was.
In their last meeting at Roland Garros, in 2010, Fognini won 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 9-7 in a controversial match that was suspended for darkness at 5-5 in the fifth set amid jeers. This time, there was no threat of darkness, and the highly anticipated rematch sizzled when it came to drama, but fizzled when it came to high-quality tennis.
After a nervous start in which he dropped the first set, Monfils rolled through the next two in entertaining fashion. The Frenchman began to suffer from fatigue, however, and completely gave away the fourth set, winning only six points. But Monfils came out firing in the final set, inspired by the constant cheers of “GA-EL, GA-EL” from the crowd. Showing off his trademark athleticism and shot making, he opened a 3-0 lead and avoided a late collapse.
During his post-match interview Monfils discussed coming back in the fifth set, “I was pretty tired after the third [set], and I took my time. I was suffering with the long rallies. When I arrive in the fourth, he break me like straight away. I tried to break back, but I couldn’t. The first two points were too tough for me, and then it’s easy. I wanted to serve first in the fifth, so the only option I had is to take six‑Love. Why should I make any effort [when trailing that much]?”
Monfils was asked whether he could win a Grand Slam amid the ups and downs of his career, "For me, it’s not about ups and downs. It’s more about saving my ass every day [laughter].”
SOURCE: SI.COM
US OPEN SERIES W&S OPEN: Blake Opens Cincinnati Quest With A Win Over Baghdatis
Monday, August 15, 2011
American James Blake during post-match interview
For Blake, the win over Baghdatis allowed him to exact revenge after suffering a loss to the Cypriot at Wimbledon earlier this summer. In that match, the Baghdatis won 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 4-6 6-4.
Blake cited increased confidence as one factor in the role reversal this time around.
The American continued that the court surface attributed to the positive result. "Since I lost to [Baghdatis] at Wimbledon, I’ve been playing well," he said. "I feel really good about being back on the hard courts. The summer swing is always my favorite part of the year; it’s where I have my most success."
Up next for the American will be the winner between the No. 14 seed and 2011 Sydney finalist Viktor Troicki and Fabio Fognini, who’s currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 64. Earlier this year, the Italian advanced to the quarterfinals at the French Open in his best ever showing at a major.
Up next for the American will be the winner between the No. 14 seed and 2011 Sydney finalist Viktor Troicki and Fabio Fognini, who’s currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 64. Earlier this year, the Italian advanced to the quarterfinals at the French Open in his best ever showing at a major.
Source: cincytennis.com
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French Open Day 5: Yes Monfils, I Too Felt Exactly Like That When You Lost
Friday, May 28, 2010
Gael Monfils, France(Photos by Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images)
Monfils, Monfils, Monfils! What happened?
I personally saw you lose your match and still I ask, what happened???
Frenchman Gael Monfils's match against Italy's Fabio Fognini began totally going Monfils's way. The first two set were competitive, but owned by the Frenchman ending at 6-2, 6-4.
Then some kind of weird vibe began to creep onto the court and Monfils slowly stopped playing his game, and responding to Fognini's.
The match was halted on Wednesday at 5-5 in the fifth. With all of the back and forth drama, I still thought 'no way Monfils loses this match.'
Both players were unhappy with the decision to stop the match, but returned in the same fashion. Fognini closed the match out with a 2-6 4-6 7-5 6-4 9-7 win.
What did Monfils have to say afterwards? "I lost, that's all. I am disappointed, I lost... but I like Fabio. He beat me fair and square."
Major bummer. Check out other results here.
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Blake Having A Rough Go Of It Lately
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Awwww man!
American James Blake can't seem to get the job done as of late. I thought that the short period that he's been off might have rejuvenated his game, but not so. Today Blake was defeated by Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid.
He seems to be in some kind of funk...Come on Blake, SNAP OUT OF IT!!!
Frenchman Gael Monfils Through To Second Round
Gael Monfils won his first singles match in three visits to Madrid with a 6-2, 6-4 round one victory over Italian wild card Fabio Fognini.
Monfils will meet Fernando Gonzalez in the second round.
Unfortunately, that good fortune did not transfer over to the doubles. Monfils and his partner, countryman Gilles Simon, were bounced by Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and German Nicolas Keifer 6-3, 6-2.
Photo Getty Images
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