Gilles Simon outlasts Fabio Fognini in the first round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Ninth seed, Gilles Simon of France, rallied from one set down to oust 47th ranked, Fabio Fognini, 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-3 in the first round at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Tuesday.
Fognini made the ideal start, as he grabbed first three games of the opening set, earning a 3-0 advantage. Simon hit back in the seventh and held his next serve to square off the score at 4-4. The Frenchman struck again in the
11th game but failed to close it out, evening out the proceedings at 6-6. Fognini was near error free afterwards, as he lost only one point and sealed it 7-6(1).
Italian was lucky to have won the set despite serving poorly, as he did not hit any ace and committed three double faults. He put in just 55 percent of the first deliveries, bagging 19 of the 28 points on them. The 24-year-old
at least had something to rely on, as he captured seven of the 17 first and seven of the 16 second return points.
Fognini was close to making an upset, breaking the Frenchman in the third game of the second set and consolidating on it to go up 3-1. However, the Italian lost five consecutive games after that, going down 3-6.
Simon’s improved play was the reason of his success, as he banged in a couple of aces and pocketed 12 of the 13 first serve points. The French dropped just one point on the second replies, clinching six of the seven.
After the score getting tied at one set apiece, it all came to the decider. Both players hit blow after blow at each other but it was Simon who struck four times to seal it 6-3.
The 12th ranked player kept his first serve percentage at 67 and claimed seven of the 14 points on them. Just like the previous set, Simon responded brilliantly to Fognini’s second deliveries, winning five of the six
of them. The marathon encounter lasted for two hours and 29 minutes.
Simon joined his fellow players in criticising the new blue courts at the event. He said, "I see no difference from last year, these have always been the worst court of the clay season. I could have sprained something practising.
There are other priorities ahead of making it blue - it should be better."
The French contestant will face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round.
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