San Marino Open: rain postpones Fabio Fognini. Goffin out in surprise
San Marino Open: rain postpones Fabio Fognini. Goffin out in surprise
Rain was the undisputed protagonist on Friday at the 30th edition of the Internazionali di Tennis San Marino Open, promoted from this year to Challenger ATP 125 (prize money € 145,000), more and more in the thick of things on the clay courts of the Centro Cassa di Risparmio di Montecchio.
In fact, only one of the quarterfinals could be played, while the organizers and ATP supervisor Carmelo Di Dio were forced to postpone the rest of the program until Saturday. So the only one who has already secured a place in the semifinals is Bosnian Nerman Fatic (No. 222), who was able to surprisingly oust Belgian David Goffin, former world No. 7 (currently ranked 100th), the third seeded favorite.
The Sarajevo player, who will turn 29 on Oct. 24, leveraging his physicality and solidity from the back, controlled the match far and wide, thanks in part to a somewhat faded version of the 30-year-old from Rocourt, a finalist at the Atp Finals when he beat Federer and Nadal. Having come out of the blocks with such determination quickly flying to 3-0, Fatic, who has been training for years in Ravenna followed by coach Patricio Remondegui, forfeited the first fraction (6-2) and on the momentum he also placed a break in the sixth game of the second set, confirmed by going up 5-2 and without shaking much more he closed 6-3, after an hour and a quarter of play, without conceding any ball-break to Goffin, for the first time in his career on the Titan court.
“I am delighted, this is an incredible victory for me, which repays me for so many sacrifices – the hot comment of Fatic, who thanks to this result is already certain to touch up the best ranking of No. 195 having moved to box 188 in the live rankings – and I feel like dedicating it to my family and all the people who support me and were present, starting with my coach. They are indeed moments and emotions that will remain for a lifetime. Now I will do everything to recover as best I can and be ready for the semifinals.”
The Bosnian awaits the winner of the tricolor derby between Andrea Pellegrino (No. 254) and Alexander Weis (No. 305 Atp), who came from the qualifiers, scheduled at 11 a.m. on the Central. At 12:30 p.m. Fabio Fognini (currently No. 124 Atp), for the first time in his career on the Titan with a wild card and fourth favorite on the scoreboard, will take the court against 20-year-old Spanish left-hander Daniel Rincon (No. 264 Atp). Both quarterfinals scheduled on the Central will be broadcast live by Sky Sport Tennis, whose cameras will turn back on at 7:30 p.m. for the second singles semifinal. On Court 2 “De Luigi” at 1 p.m., however, Argentine Federico Delbonis (No. 234 Atp) and Spaniard Jaume Munar (No. 91), the second seed, will face each other.
RESULTS. Quarters: Nerman Fatic (Bos) b. David Goffin (Bel) 6-2 6-3.
Doubles, semifinals: Ivan Liutarevich/Vladyslav Manafov (Rus/Ucr) b. Marc Polmans/Matthew
Christopher Romios (Aus) 3-6 7-6(3) 10-6.
