Wk.6- The Fabulous Fognini

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

We have started the clay court events now. My favorite tournament on the tour run by the ATP is Acapulco. We will be going there shortly. On the women’s side, I have always liked Hobart, though Rome may just be one of my joint favorites. Wimbledon is my favorite slam.

Anyway, the clay court swing has begun and it has begun with a distinctly European feel. Fognini's Italy borders France, where Monfils the Frenchman won his title and almost borders Croatia, where Croat Cilic won his title. Tennis is swiftly becoming dominated by the Europeans with only four of the top twenty coming from out of the top twenty, and just three of the world’s best fifteen. Haas and Gasquet consolidated their 12th and 9th spots in the rankings with solid final runs. Monfils entered the world’s top twenty-five, at twenty-three, up seven places. Fognini is now the fourteenth best player in the world, which is a fair reflection. He, like Schiavone, is making the best with what he has. He won't win a slam but he will always be consistently up there especially on clay.

Zagreb is Cilic's tournament. He has now won it four times. His return is gathering momentum now and he will be a seed for the French Open, particularly if he wins another tournament. It is a bit early to be thinking about the French. He will be a seed for either Indian Wells or Miami or both. He just needs to go up five places in the rankings and two semifinal showings should do it. Also, it was the fourth time that there had been an all-French final there. Since 2000, there has been a Frenchman in the final twelve times.

Well, anyway I had better get started....



*Week 6 CHAMPIONS*
MONTPELLIER, FRANCE
S: Gael Monfils def. Richard Gasquet 6-4/6-4
D: Davydenko/Istomin d. Gicquel/Mahut
VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
S: Fabio Fognini def. Leonardo Mayer 6-2/6-4
D: Marach/Mergea d. Cabal/Farah
ZAGREB, CROATIA
S: Marin Cilic def. Tommy Haas 6-3/6-4
D: Rojer/Tecau d. Marx/Mertinak


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: FOGNINI, ITA
...It was tight, but I think Fognini just edges it here. The most aptly named man in tennis won his third title here in Vina del Mar, the only tournament on the golden swing Almagro has yet to win. He faced the Spaniard in the semifinals. Almagro has been to twenty finals, all of them on clay and he is 12-8 in those finals. Fognini is 3-3 in finals, and 3-2 in clay finals, 0-1 in hard-court finals. 2013 aside, Almags had won a title each year since 2006. The dirtballers played a classic clay match full of long rallies and drop shots. In the end the Italian proved too strong, despite dropping the second set 6-1, and sealed it in a third set breaker. Perhaps Almagro can win the elusive Vina Del Mar next year? Before the big semifinal between the top and third seeds, Fognini had to navigate a somewhat tricky draw. He got past Bedene 6-4, 7-6 and then Chardy 6-4, 3-6, and 6-2. Once in the final, he dominated Mayer in straight sets. He played a solid, clever match from start to finish, comfortably winning 6-2 and 6-4 in the end. The Italian is now up to number fourteen and that makes him the highest ranked Italian since the 1960’s or so. But, possibly most important of all, he is really very handsome.
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RISER: MONFILS, FRA
.Gael Monfils is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Understanding anything La Monf! does is nigh on impossible, but watching him is always very entertaining and very frustrating. Last year I watched his match against Berdych. It was the most frustrating, ridiculous performance from Monfils and yet he still went on to win. In five. After the match my nerves and my patience were shattered but I still wanted to keep watching him. This week he dazzled us once again with his, uhh, antics. In the final he won 26 of 28 service points and hit 9 aces. That kind of consistency is hard to top. He almost went down to Kubot in the first round, winning 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3 in the end. He dismissed Sousa 6-3, 6-2 and then Istomin 6-4, 6-4 in the next two rounds. He was too strong for Nieminen in the semifinal despite a characteristic blip, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-1. He then had to play compatriot and good mate Richard Gasquet, who had edged out Pole Janowicz 7-6, 7-6 in the semifinal. Gasquet had played well all week, but in the final Monfils was too strong and won 6-4, 6-4. He served and played big. He improves to 2-0 over Gasquet this year, though his earlier win may have had something to do with a Gasquet injury.
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SURPRISE: EVANS, GBR
...In a bizarre occurrence, two qualifiers who played each other both ended up in the semifinals of a main draw 250 event. The term lucky loser is not a particularly pleasant one, though it is certainly accurate. Seeded third in qualifying, Evans lost to Phau in straight sets. Phau would go on to make his first ATP semi since 2009. Evans was put in when Stepanek withdrew and the Brit beat Hajek in the first round quite handily. After that he scraped past another qualifier, Berrer, 7-6 in the third and then Kohl 6-4 in the third. He shouldn’t have even made the main draw but he found himself in the semifinals. Surely Haas, the twelfth best player in the world, would have too much for him. In one of the biggest matches of his life, Evans won the opening set 7-6. After that, Haas slowly wore him down and came through 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the end. It was quite a run from Evans and he became the first Brit not named Murray to make a semi since Ward in 2011. With that performance, he rose to 123 in the world, 24 places up from where he was. Another couple of deep runs in tournaments this year and a couple of wins at slam level and he could easily crack the top 100.
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VETERAN: NIEMINEN, FIN
...The talented Fin made the semifinals of the Sud de France this week just past. He is now 32 but is still ranked within the top 35 or so in the world. Despite some inconsistent performances as of late, he is still a world class player. He has been as high as thirteen and he even has three slam quarterfinals, at the three slams not played in France. He does have a rather dubious record of being 2-11 in finals with his first coming in 2001 and his last one so far last year. He has always been a dangerous player and someone capable of winning a title or making a good slam run. However, he is also equally good at crashing out early, especially when he has the chance to make a good run. He has been the number one Fin for at least ten years now, an amazing record.
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COMEBACK: CILIC, CRO
...The comeback continues as the Croat won his first title since his return. By defeating top see Haas, he won his tenth title from 18 attempts on three surfaces. He has now won a title every year since 2008. The Croat will be a dangerous floater for the rest of the year. I could see him taking a big scalp in SW19 or Flushing Meadows. I wouldn't mind seeing Cilic against Federer or Murray at Wimbledon. Even better, Cilic/Nadal. That would be quite an exciting match methinks.
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DOWN: BAGHDATIS CYP
...Simon has had injury issues so his early loss is excusable. Baghdatis lost to Krstin of Serbia in the first round of qualifying, despite winning the first set. The less said, the better.
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1. VINA DEL MAR SF - FOGNINI d. ALMAGRO
...6-4/1-6/7-6. This was always going to be a big match. Two flashy showmen grinding out a tough match full of lengthy rallies and ridiculous shot-making. Two swashbuckling competitors played out what was essentially the final, with Mayer the winner in the other.
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2. VINA DEL MAR 1st Rd. - MAYER d. ROBREDO ...3-6/7-6/6-4. Mayer really should have lost this match. He was down a set and Robredo was playing champagne stuff. But then, he nicked it 10-8 in the breaker and edged out the third to come through.
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3. ZAGREB 2nd Rd. - EVANS d. BERRER 1-6/6-1/7-6
ZAGREB QF - EVANS d. KOHLSCHREIBER 6-4/2-6/6-4
... Evans of GBR had a strong run here. He recovered from a bad first set to record a three-set win. He is turning into a solid British number two and he could help to take Britain far in the Davis Cup. Beating Kohl is a big scalp.
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*ROTTERDAM, NED*
=SF=
Berdych [3] d. [8] Dimitrov
Tsonga [5] d. [4] Gasquet
=FINAL=
Tsonga [5] d. [3] Berdych

...The top two seeds here have looked rusty so far. The third and fourth seeds are Berdych and Gasquet, respectively. That leaves Tsonga. He has a manageable draw and I think he is playing better than Murray currently, but what do I know?

*MEMPHIS, USA*
=SF=
Hewitt [3] d. [6] Querrey
Lopez [2] d. [8] Kukushkin
=FINAL=
Hewitt [3] d. [2] Lopez

...Again, the top three seeds are all in questionable form. Combine this with the weakness of the field in general and this is very open. The fourth seed is Lu, ranked outside the top 50.

*AUCKLAND, NZL*
=SF=
Ferrer [1] d. [4] Almagro
Fognini [2] d. [3] Robredo
=FINAL=
Ferrer [1] d. [2] Fognini

...Ferrer should have too much grind here. It is a field that should go with the top four seeds. Fognini is a little too inconsistent to bother Ferrer, but anything could happen.

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