Fabio Fognini and Rafael Nadal are going to face off in a rather interesting 4th round at the Australian Open. This match will be particularly interesting since while Rafael Nadal is nursing a back injury, Fognini is playing great tennis despite the fact that he had an operation on both his ankles last summer.
H2H and Fognini’s dominance over Nadal in 2015
Fabio Fognini and Rafael Nadal fought against each other 16 times. Their actual head to head record is 12-4 for Nadal. The last time they squared off, Rafael Nadal won 2-6 6-1 6-2 in the quarter in Montreal (Coupe Rogers) in August 2019.
Here the video highlights.
Despite the overall record, Fabio is not an easy customer for Rafa. The Italian was even dominant back in 2015 with a 3-1 win-loss record against the Mallorcan.
The US Open match
Fognini is the only tennis player in history that defeated Nadal after recovering from a 2 sets deficit. That happened in New York at the US Open back in 2015 when Fabio won 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in the 3rd round. Here the details of that match.
The asked about that match, Fabio replied:
“The past is the past. The future is gonna be the future. So I’m really looking forward, trying to be ready again for a great match in front of me.”
Stats: aces, double faults, breaks, winners
6-3 6-4
At the end of the match, Fabio scored 154 points vs. Rafael’s 152.
Fognini
Fabio was pretty focused in converting 56% of the break points that he procured (9/16).
Nadal
On the other side, Rafael was far from perfect in converting his break points (only 42% – 8/19). That was one of the key issues for his demise.
After this match, the head to head between Fognini and Nadal is 4-12 for Rafael.
Fognini was great in turning this contest around in the last 3 sets after losing the first 2. In fact, he conceded just 11 games in the last 3 sets after winning 101 points vs. ‘s 79 points.
Live score progression and stats
overpowered the opposition at the beginning of the set after breaking Fognini in the 2nd game (2-0). Nevertheless, the set was not over yet and there was more work to do for Rafael to win the set because Fabio managed to break back in the 3rd (1-2) game. Rafael kept his focus to break Fognini in the 4th (3-1) game before conquering the set (6-3).
Nadal converted 40% of his break points (2/5). He had 5 break points opportunities in the 2nd (1-0 15-40), the 4th (2-1 30-40, 40-A and 40-A) and the 8th game (5-2 40-A). Moreover, on the other side, Fognini converted 25% of his break points (1/4). He had his opportunities in the 3rd (0-2 30-40, 40-A and 40-A) and the 5th game (1-3 30-40).
They played 66 points. Nadal was the winner of the set after clinching 10 more points than Fabio (38-28). Rafael dropped 13 points on serve (22-13). On the losing side, Fabio conceded 16 points on serve (15-16).
The set was pretty even as both players managed to hold serve with the notable exception of 1 break that Nadal grabbed in the 9th game (5-4) just before ultimately conquering the set (6-4).
Fabio lost the 9th game (5-4) when he had a strong 40-0 lead while on serve.
Rafael was on the money in converting all his break points in the 7th (3-3 30-40 and 40-A) and the 9th game (4-4 40-A). On the other side, Rafael didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They contested 57 points. Rafael was the winner of the set after clinching 5 points more than Fabio (31-26). Nadal lost 5 points on serve (20-5). Regarding the other side of the net, Fognini conceded 11 points on serve (21-11).
Fognini won the set after recovering from 1 break down. In fact, after dropping his serve in the 3rd (1-2) game, Fabio broke back in the 6th (3-3) and in the 10th game to win the set 6-4.
Fabio converted 66% of his break points (2/3). He had 3 break points opportunities in the 6th (2-3 0-40) and the 10th game (5-4 30-40 and 40-A). On the other side, Rafael was clinical in converting the only break point that he conquered in the 3rd game (1-1 30-40).
They contested 53 points. Fognini was the winner of the set after clinching 7 points more than Rafael (30-23). Fabio dropped 8 points on serve (18-8). on the other side of the court, Rafael conceded 12 points on serve (15-12).
had a pretty good kick start of the set after breaking Fognini in the 1st game (1-0). Notwithstanding, Fognini managed to stage a good comeback to break Rafael in the 4th (2-2) and in the 8th (5-3) game before winning the set (6-3).
Fabio converted 66% of his break points (2/3). He had 3 break points opportunities in the 4th (1-2 30-40) and the 8th game (4-3 0-40 and 15-40). Furthermore, on the other side, Rafael converted 20% of his break points (1/5). He had his opportunities in the 1st game (0-0 0-40, 15-40, 30-40, 40-A and 40-A).
They played 63 points. Fognini won 5 points more than Rafael (34-29). Fognini dropped 18 points on serve (24-18). on the other side of the net, Rafael conceded 10 points on serve (11-10).
Fognini won the set after he broke Nadal 4 times in the 3rd (2-1), in the 5th (3-2), in the 7th (4-3) and in the 9th (5-4) game. Nadal tried to stage a comeback breaking 3 times in the 4th (2-2), in the 6th (3-3) and in the 8th (4-4) game. However, Fabio didn’t lose the lead to win the set 6-4.
Fognini converted 66% of his break points (4/6). He had 6 break points opportunities in the 3rd (1-1 40-A), the 5th (2-2 0-40, 15-40 and 30-40), the 7th (3-3 30-40) and the 9th game (4-4 0-40). Moreover, on the other side, Nadal converted 60% of his break points (3/5). He had his opportunities in the 4th (1-2 15-40), the 6th (2-3 15-40) and the 8th game (3-4 40-A, 40-A and 40-A).
They played 64 points. Fabio was the winner of the set after clinching 4 more points than Nadal (34-30). Fabio dropped 19 points on serve (17-19). On the losing side, Rafael conceded 17 points on serve (11-17).
Fognini at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2021
Currently ranked no.17, Fabio owns an overall 6-3 record in 2021. The Italian is playing at the Australian Open where he defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 6-2 6-3, Salvatore Caruso 4-6 6-2 2-6 6-3 7-612 and Alex De Minaur 6-4 6-3 6-4.
Fognini won 9 titles in his career: 1 on hard courts and 8 on clay courts. (See the list of his titles)
Nadal at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2021
At the moment ranked no.2, Nadal has managed to achieve a 3-0 win-loss record in 2021. Nadal is currently having a run at the Australian Open where he managed to beat Laslo Djere 6-3 6-4 6-1, Michael Mmoh 6-1 6-4 6-2 and Cameron Norrie 7-5 6-2 7-5.
The Spaniard won 86 titles in his career: 21 on hard courts, 60 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 4 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
