Simone Bolelli prevails over Thomas Fabbiano in the quarter-finals – AON Open Challenger 2012
Seeded fifth in the draw, Italy’s Simone Bolelli advanced to the last-four stage by beating his compatriot, Thomas Fabbiano, in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the AON Open in Genova, Italy on Friday. Bolelli needed
on hour and 39 minutes to undo his opponent in a evenly contested match.
The higher ranked Italian player did not allow Fabbiano to settle down in the match, breaking his opening serve and consolidating on it to move ahead 2-0. Bolelli struck again in the third and won his following serve to gain a
4-0 advantage. Fabbiano made a remarkable comeback after that, as he captured five of the next six games to square off the proceedings at 5-5. However, he wasted his entire effort, as he lost the subsequent two games to throw away the first set 5-7.
Bolelli did not impress with his serve, as he failed to hit any ace and committed a couple of double faults in the first set. The Italian player banged in just 58 percent of the first serves and clinched 10 of the 19 points on
them. In comparison, Fabbiano fared even worse, putting in just 41 percent of the first serves and winning merely nine of the 15 points on them. The 23-year-old failed to utilise two of the four break opportunities he created and could not put away all the
three break threats he came across.
Both Italian players held their opening serves of the second set to equalise the score at 1-1. Bolelli nailed a break in the third and capitalised on it to go up 3-1. This time, the senior Italian player did not allow his countryman
to bounce back, sustaining his lead till the end to win 6-4.
Bolelli hit a single ace and made the same number of double fault, hitting 68 percent of the first serves and winning 15 of the 19 points on them. On the other hand, Fabbiano pounded three aces but he threw away the advantage,
as he also committed equal number of double faults. The worst part of his game was that he lost 15 of the 19 points on the first returns. Fabbiano could not create any break chance and was unable to save one of the two threats he faced.
For a place in the title match, Bolelli is slated to meet either Spain’s Tommy Robredo or Italian lucky loser, Walter Trusendi.
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