Fabio Fognini is smiling and relaxed after the splendid success in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia against Miomir Kecmanovic which projects him towards the eagerly awaited clash with Holger Rune, after the Dane’s success on the French teenager Arthur Fils.
A victory and a performance on the pitch that he didn’t believe possible a few days before the start of the tournament, given the less than ideal conditions in which he showed up in Rome due to the injury he suffered a few weeks ago at Estoril . He worked well with his team, to give himself the opportunity to experience a tournament as a protagonist at the Foro Italico, and because he firmly believes he can still say something before leaving the stage to the new generation of blue tennis players, to whom he believes he has done as a forerunner and on which he is betting strongly for a future of great satisfaction.
Fognini’s post-match press conference begins with a nice curtain with his eldest son Federico, who after celebrating his father’s victory on the pitch also accompanies him in front of journalists. “Winning in front of them is wonderful, it’s a great satisfaction because I honestly don’t know how long I’ll be racing, with my children it’s really complicated. Do you remember Federico when we won in Monte Carlo?”. “No…” the little one replies candidly, unleashing a big smile on Fabio’s face, really satisfied with the victory and with being once again a protagonist in the most important Italian tournament. Fognini continues, recounting his moment, the difficulties in continuing to work day after day with increasingly tiring routines and the complication of a bad injury at the worst possible moment, with the big tournaments on clay just around the corner. “I have been arriving for two years without good results and some injuries. It’s hard to even accept it. Today tennis is played faster and faster, it is necessary to adapt more than in the past. I come from a period in which I felt something inside me, but getting without results on the pitch”.
For this reason the choice to go back to work with Corrado Barazzutti, Davis’ former captain and his coach, someone who knows him like few others and who isn’t at all afraid to tell him how it is and give him important input to work, and restart. “We stopped and after Miami I entrusted myself to Corrado who, because he knows me very well, knows what to tell me. I asked him if in his opinion my tennis was still able to give something, we talked for a long time and outspokenly. I believe my game is higher than my current ranking. If I can stay away from injuries, I think I can still have my say.”
Italian fans are something else 🙌 pic.twitter.com/PaqPri6CLf
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 12, 2023
The atmosphere on Pietrangeli was electric, a warmth from the crowd who felt it and charged it: “Pietrangeli is a unique, special field, it’s always wonderful to play on it” confirms Fabio, very satisfied with his performance against Kecmanovic. “I played a very solid first set, of great quality, I think I practically didn’t give him a chance. I served very well, like few times in my career. In the second set from his corner they signaled him to be more aggressive, the match became more physical, however I had several break points, in three of his rounds of service while in mine I didn’t concede anything, I didn’t deserve to get there on the third set. When I had three match points in the tiebreak and I didn’t take advantage of them it was tough, imagining myself in the third set after playing like this… but in the end it went well and I’m very happy, I think I deserved the success”.
Fabio also talked about his next plans, he will skip the grass to try to recover points and play the major tournaments in the summer, up to the US Open. “I want a better ranking, I aim to return to the top 100 in the world before Wimbledon, this means doing very well between Rome and Paris, there are no other tournaments. I won’t play the qualifiers on grass at Wimbledon, I prefer to stay on clay and play some important Challengers, hoping to do well and score as many points as possible, this is my short-term goal. I think I can do it if I’m physically well.” With tennis shown against Murray and Kecmanovic, it’s not an impossible feat at all, especially when his tennis runs free, without tension, exploding his talent. “Am I having fun? I’m trying to play more freely, even if I’m not at my best because of the foot problem. I try to impose my tennis, if I can play well it’s really nice to be on the court, despite the fatigue.” The years go by, keeping the level up is increasingly difficult, but his motivation remains high because after such a long and rewarding career Fabio has no intention of saying goodbye anonymously, he still wants to feel like a protagonist. “Everyday training and recovery routine is more strenuous, but I still want to work and try. I don’t think I deserve to end up like this, I feel I still have something to say.”
Above all, Fognini feels that he has been a trailblazer for the new generation of Italian tennis players, on whom he is aiming for the future: “My career is now coming to an end, I don’t know how long I will play yet, but I think I have opened the doors a bit to these new players. I am convinced that we will have ten years of great satisfaction with the young people who have arrived and who will arrive. We have Sinner who is in the top 10, he can stay there for a long time and aspire to extraordinary goals, and I think Musetti can get there too, obviously more slowly with his growth times. Let’s not forget Berrettini who has now suffered from serious physical problems but he has reached the top and will be able to return. There are many young Azzurri ready to do well and who will make a lot of talk about tennis from here on out, for the next 10 years”.
2023-05-12 21:34:19
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