In the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters Fabio Fognini took a Sunday (really Monday) walk, as he usually does in matches, and suddenly found himself down 7-5 5-2 30-0 against talented clay-courter Joao Sousa. Then he seemed to tell himself to stop walking and start running and suddenly he had turned the match around, winning in the end with 5-7 7-5 6-4 and booking himself a place against Robredo in the 2nd round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Fognini said after the match:Â “I’m not happy today. I was I think a bit lucky. It was a really difficult match.”
With Fognini 2-5 down in the second set, I tweeted:
Fognini is on the way out. Brilliant play by Sousa today.
— Jon the Tennisnerd (@Tennisnerdnet) April 14, 2014
But suddenly he started moving again so three games later I tweeted:
Fognini is sometimes Houdini. Suddenly it’s 5-5 and he’s moving better. #tennis #montecarlo @montecarlorolex
— Jon the Tennisnerd (@Tennisnerdnet) April 14, 2014
And then he won the match.
The point about Fognini being Houdini is that he seems to get himself into trouble time and time again with sloppy play and what looks like a lazy attitude on the court and then he suddenly sparks to life to turn the match around. After all, the man has bucketloads of talent and good physical ability so his issues on court are more mental than anything else.
He reminds me in some ways of Ernests Gulbis. Spoiled in many ways and not used to working hard. I might be exaggerating because neither one would reach that far on the ATP World Tour without working hard, but I think there’s definitely more potential for them if the just go the extra mile, work on their attitude and fight, fight, fight.
It’s tough to see talent go to spoils.
So come on Fabio, show us that you enjoy tennis, winning and the fight. Don’t walk around the court like you don’t care, because I know you do.
