Fabio Fognini is having a rather surprising run at the Australian Open. The Italian ace is about to face the great Rafael Nadal in the quarters after he had an operation on both of his ankles last summer. Eventually, Fabio managed to recover extremely fast, and he has been playing one of the best tennis of his career in Melbourne.
Fognini and his wife Flavia Pennetta
Fabio is definitely a family man with a very strong bond with his beautiful wife and US Open champion Flavia Pennetta. Flavia didn’t follow Fabio in Australia in order to take of their children and therefore Fabio sent a lovely message on Instagram on the occasion of Valentine’s day with the following post.
Fabio Fognini and Rafael Nadal squared off 16 times. Their actual head to head record is 12-4 for Nadal. Previously, the last time when they fought against each other, Rafael Nadal won 2-6 6-1 6-2 in the quarter in Montreal (Coupe Rogers) in August 2019.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Fognini at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2021
Now the world no.
17, Fognini has managed to achieve a compiled 6-3 match record in 2021. Fabio is currently having a run at the Australian Open where he beat 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.
The Italian 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, the Spaniard achieved a composed 3-0 record in 2021. Nadal is now playing at the Australian Open where he bested 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)