Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is red clay, where he has won eight of his nine ATP singles titles, most notably at the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters. He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open. Together with Simone Bolelli, Fognini won the 2015 Australian Open doubles championship, becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era.
Early life
Fognini was born to Silvana and Fulvio, a businessman, and has a younger sister. He began playing tennis when he was four years old and is also a fan of football, supporting Inter Milan and Genoa CFC. He also enjoys motorbike racing and is a fan of Valentino Rossi. Fognini speaks Italian, English, Spanish, and French, and his nickname is "Fogna".
Career
Juniors
As a junior, Fognini posted a singles win–loss record of 72–36. He achieved a combined ranking of No. 8 in the world in May 2004, reaching the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and French Open.
2004–2006
Fognini began his professional career by playing a variety of Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning his first Futures title in 2005 at Spain No. 1 and another at Italy No. 9. In 2005, he also finished runner-up at Italy No. 3 and qualified for his first ATP Challenger tournament at Palermo. During 2006, Fognini had moderate success at Challengers and, after qualifying, made his debut on the ATP World Tour at Buenos Aires. He was defeated in the first round by former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, the eventual champion.
2007: Top 100
In 2007, Fognini made some real progress on the ATP Tour, notably when he qualified for the 2007 French Open to make his first appearance in a Grand Slam event. He lost in the first round to World No. 35 Juan Mónaco in five sets. In addition, he had a fantastic tournament at the 2007 Rogers Masters in Montreal, Canada. Having qualified for the tournament, he defeated Peter Polansky in the first round, before taking out the 13th seed Andy Murray in straight sets. Fognini was halted by World No. 1 Roger Federer in the third round.
On the ATP Challengers circuit, Fognini made the finals in Santiago, Sanremo, and Fürth, losing in three-set battles each time. Partnering Frederico Gil, he also lost in the doubles final of the Fürth Challenger. He finished the year ranked in the top 100 for the first time at No. 94.
2008: First doubles final
Fognini lost a five-set first-round encounter against Michael Russell in the 2008 Australian Open.
During the South American clay swing, he reached the quarterfinals of Viña del Mar (defeating second seed clay-court specialist Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round) and the semi-finals of Costa Do Sauipe.
After missing the 2008 French Open due to injury problems, Fognini reached the semi-finals of both Warsaw and Umag (beating former World No. 1 and French Open champion Carlos Moyá), whilst also winning the Turin and Genova challengers, further enhancing his clay pedigree.
2009: San Benedetto title
In April 2009, Fognini reached the third round of the 2009 Monte-Carlo Masters as a qualifier, upsetting Tomáš Berdych (after losing the first set 1–6) and 14th seed Marin Čilić (for the loss of only two games). Fognini then played a typically topsy-turvy match with World No. 4 Andy Murray, losing in two tight sets after being up 5–0 in the first set. In July, Fognini won the San Benedetto Challenger title defeating Cristian Villagrán in the final.
2010: 50 wins
A remarkable win during this season was against the 13th seed Gaël Monfils at the 2010 French Open by also coming from two sets to love down in a match that spanned two days. In June 2010, Fognini followed up his vein of good form as he defeated Fernando Verdasco, the 8th seed, in the first round of Wimbledon without dropping serve the entire match.