5th set on
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5th set on
3rd break in a row.
nadal breaks again...
sfsfsfsaf
6th service break,,,,,,,,,,,,IN A ROW
And fognini breaks again winning 4 consecutive points...some slap of a forehand winner the last 2 points.
Fabio beats Rafa 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4! ;)
After dropping the first two sets, Fognini turned in one of the most breathtaking shot-making displays of the year. He clubbed forehand and backhand winners from all parts of the court with exquisite timing that belied the amount of effort behind them. He also attacked the net regularly, winning 39 of 52 approaches.
After dropping the first two sets, Fognini turned in one of the most breathtaking shot-making displays of the year. He clubbed forehand and backhand winners from all parts of the court with exquisite timing that belied the amount of effort behind them. He also attacked the net regularly, winning 39 of 52 approaches.
In a rollercoaster final set, the players held their opening serves but then exchanged seven consecutive breaks before Fognini served out the match from 5-4. Earlier, in a pulsating eighth game of the set, Nadal rallied from 40/0 on Fognini's serve and ultimately saved four game points before leveling the set at 4-all. But Fognini responded with four clean winners to break the Spaniard to love.
Fognini claimed his third win from four meetings with Nadal in 2015. The Italian improved to a 10-9 career mark in fifth sets; Nadal slipped to 17-6. He next plays another Spanish left-hander, Feliciano Lopez.
Fognini said that his high-risk, high-reward strategy was needed to beat Nadal.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/...t-us-open-2015
Fognini did pick up after two sets down. But Nadal too dropped his level, in a recurring pattern we've seen all year. He seems to get fatigued by the third set and just can't close out the match. It's mainly a physical problem but repeatedly losing such matches also dents his confidence and sets him back mentally in terms of self belief. It thus becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Of course, having been subservient to weak era theory, the establishment now has to talk up Fognini as much as they can because we all need to pretend the field somehow got so much tougher and it's not Nadal who's off colour and on the decline. Let's see Fognini beat Lopez first. And if he gets through that match, there's no way he beats Djoko. He's good but not that good. His serve is quite attackable and Nadal, as he did with Dustin Brown (who admittedly had a much bigger serve), simply failed to attack his serve enough. And when he did, he just couldn't hold serve for 6 games in a row which is what wins sets.
This match has to be one of the most psychedelic matches that I've watched. Fognini really played the match of his life and for some absurd reason he seems to have Nadal's number this year. Three wins in four with one in a grand slam. Coming to the match, it was clear as to how Nadal's weakened second serve was being punished time and time again. Nadal just couldn't find any rhythm on his serve at times and that clearly costed him the match. Even in the first two sets that Nadal won, it was more about Fognini missing shots and committing errors than Nadal's pattern of play. He held his defense, but Fognini true to what he his missed regulation put overs and returns.