Players aiming for their maiden championship titles this year – Part Four: Fabio Fognini – Tennis Special
Italy has not produced big names in the world of men’s tennis during the recent history. Likes of Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci and the Grand Slam champion, Francesca Schiavone, have seen great success among women tennis professionals
and has kept their country on the map with some solid achievements. Among men, the 24-year-old Fabio Fognini, has been around the corner for quite some time now and has kept the hopes of Italian tennis lovers alive in the region.
Currently rated at number 54 in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, Fognini has posed some significant performances in Grand Slam events but is yet to bag his maiden championship title to date. The highly
talented right-hander is Italy’s second best player at the moment, following the 46th ranked Andreas Seppi.
Fognini possess far better talent than his rankings suggest. The Arma di Taggia, Italy, resident reached his career best rank of word number 32 but his inconsistency dropped him a number of places to settle at the 54th
spot at the present. He was on his peak form in June 2011, when he clinched the 32nd spot but his game has suffered a drastic slump since then.
The 24-year-old has been successful in the ATP Challenger Tour but is still to prove his mettle in the elite ATP World Tour campaigns. Fognini had made it to nine finals of the Challenger tournaments, winning six championship titles
to his name. He hasn’t featured a single championship final in the World Tour events and it is believed that the crafty Italian will earn such an opportunity in the 2012 season.
Fognini was off to a dismal start at the 2011 ATP season, suffering opening round exits from three successive tournaments, including the Australian Open. He finally got into the lime light when he stunned Brazil’s number one player,
Thomaz Bellucci, to reach the semi-finals of the World Tour 250 event in Santiago. He was beaten by Tommy Robredo and his bad patch of form continued in the following tournaments as well.
He made another quarter-final appearance in Casablanca, losing to the then world number 24, Albert Montanes and kept losing matches early in the tournament to follow. Fognini’s amazing run at the Roland Garros French Open took
his career to new heights as he beat the all the odds to feature the quarter-final of the Grand Slam tournament. His luck didn’t last long and the Italian sensation was stung by an injury to pull out of the mega event, also forcing him to withdraw from Wimbledon
Championships in a dismal manner.
Fognini featured just one more semi-final matchup in Umag, Croatia, after that and is straining extremely hard to find his vintage form in the current season. The Italian is 1-3 in the current year but he has to go along way.
It will be hard for the 54th ranked Italian to win a star-studded event, with the likes of top-ranked competitors. Fognini might get his dream come true in some ATP World Tour 250-level tournament with lesser competitive
and smaller players’ field. However, the talented Italian can beat anyone on his day; all he needs is solid determination and a hint of luck to become a true champion.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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