Fabio Fognini overwhelms Grega Zemlja to reach second round – China Open 2011
Italian tennis pro Fabio Fognini thrashed out Grega Zemlja of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday to advance into the second round of 2011 China Open here at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing, China.
Fognini made the most of available opportunities in a match that lasted for only one hour and eight minutes on the hard courts of Beijing. Hitting his big forehand and backhand winners all over the court, the Italian seemed to
be timing the ball really well. Coming close to the net every now and then, Fognini bamboozled his opponent with his well disguised chip shots on various occasions.
Ranked 39th in the Association of Tennis Professional’s rankings, Fognini has been in decent form since the start of this season. The Italian possesses a very powerful backhand shot and if he can make it all the way
to the final stages of the tournament, he could prove to e a very tricky opponent.
Fognini served with control and accuracy as he hit 66 per cent first serves during the contest. Firing four serve aces in the match, he earned valuable points to create doubts in the opponent’s mind. Playing the big points really
well, he converted four break chances to establish complete control over the contest.
Zemlja will be disappointed with his effort as he struggled to handle the heat. Making five costly double faults, he was certainly not at his best. With only 30 per cent share of the points at receiving end, he struggled to break
the serve and he ended up paying the ultimate price. The Slovakian tennis pro will be hoping to learn from his mistakes and come back stronger on his next ATP appearance.
Fognini held on to his service games quite comfortably in the opening set. He then broke the serve in one of the games to clinch the opening set 6-4. Asserting his dominance, he looked in a hurry in second set. Breaking his opponent
twice, he closed out the match in straight sets.
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