Fabio Fognini

 ( 1987 Births ) 

With Simone Bolelli, Fognini reached the semi-finals of the 2011 US Open men's doubles.

At the 2012 French Open, he was once again the subject of much drama, saving two match points while battling past the seeded Viktor Troicki in five sets to advance to the third round for the third successive year. He subsequently lost to World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a match with considerable shot-making flair and variety. In the Croatia Open, Fabio lost to defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the second round.

Fognini began his grass season by reaching the quarterfinals of Eastbourne, defeating fourth seed Bernard Tomic along the way, and falling to eventual tournament winner Andy Roddick in a tight three-set match. At Wimbledon, he defeated experienced grass-courter Michaël Llodra in the first round and again lost to the eventual tournament winner, Roger Federer, in the second round. In the London 2012 Olympics, Fognini was drawn against Novak Djokovic in the first round. He valiantly took the first set after being down 3–5 and saving three set points, before finally succumbing in three sets. "Djokovic defeats Fognini after a rain delay" , ubitennis.com, 30 July 2012.

Starting the North American summer outdoor hard-court season by qualifying for both the Toronto Masters and Cincinnati Masters, Fognini went on to reach the third round of the US Open, a career-best performance. In the first round, he ousted Édouard Roger-Vasselin in a trademark five-setter, coming back from two sets down. The second round was a routine straight-sets win over Guillermo García López. Fognini's run again ended at the hands of crowd favourite Andy Roddick in a dramatic match (in which he notably out-aced the American) in four sets. Roddick had announced after his first-round win that he was retiring upon conclusion of the tournament, adding to the drama.

The start of the indoor hard-court season saw Fognini reach his second final of the year at St. Petersburg, finishing runner-up to Martin Kližan. "Klizan beats Fognini in ATP final", Taipei Times, 25 September 2012.

He reached his first singles quarterfinal of the season at Buenos Aires, losing to top seed David Ferrer in straight sets (whilst winning the doubles alongside Bolelli). The next week, Fognini achieved a career-best performance at ATP 500 events with a semi-finals showing in Acapulco, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka along the way and again losing to Ferrer (but this time taking a set).Bodo, Peter (2013). "Weekend Review: A Worldwide Feast", Tennis.com, 3 March 2013. Just over a week later, Fognini set up a clash with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, after defeating Aljaž Bedene for the second time in three weeks to reach the second round of the Indian Wells Masters. After being bagelled in the first, Fognini wildly celebrated upon winning his first game in the second, heroically taking the set from 2–4 down. He subsequently lost the third. "Djokovic Survives Fognini Fightback", ATP official site, 10 March 2013. In Miami, Fognini was seeded at a Masters event for the first time in his career, earning a bye to the second round. He defeated Michaël Llodra, and lost to Ferrer again in the third round.

The start of the European clay season saw Fognini gain another top 20 victory, defeating fellow Italian Andreas Seppi in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters in a typically tumultuous affair with an almost complete lack of momentum. "Fognini takes out Seppi in comeback win", Tennistalk, 15 April 2013. He carried on his rich vein of form to straight-set both Albert Ramos and No. 4 seed Tomáš Berdych (his second victory over the Czech in Monte Carlo) to reach his first career quarterfinal in a Masters event. "Fognini stuns Berdych, Tsonga eases through", Eurosport, 18 April 2013. Here, Fognini played another amazing match to beat Richard Gasquet, his second consecutive top-10 victory, in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of a Masters for the first time, projecting his ranking to a new career-high of World No. 24. "Nadal survives and will face Tsonga Djokovic to play Fognini" , Ubitennis, 21 April 2013. In the semi-finals, he failed to gain any real rhythm, losing to World No. 1 Djokovic. In Madrid, Fognini was involved in another highly unorthodox match, losing in a final set tiebreak to Mikhail Youzhny in the first round. He served for the match in the third set and three match points. Fognini then lost nine consecutive points, only to save two match points himself. In the tiebreak, he went up a minibreak, lost five consecutive points, won four consecutively then lost. "Tennis, Madrid: Fognini si butta via contro Youzhny. Seppi si arrende ad Haas", La Gazzetta dello Sport, 7 May 2013. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.

Fognini began his grass-court season at the 2013 Aegon International held at Eastbourne, where he was seeded eighth. He defeated Grega Žemlja and Martin Kližan, both from a set down, before falling to Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Fognini lost in the first round to Jürgen Melzer, after leading by a set and a break. "Jürgen Melzer stuns Fabio Fognini (30) in the first round of Wimbledon 2013", Tennis World USA, 24 June 2013.

At the 2013 MercedesCup in Stuttgart, Fognini reached his third career final, defeating top seed and home favourite Tommy Haas en route. He won his maiden title, by beating second seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in three sets. The following week, after an outstanding performance at 2013 International German Open, Fognini improved his winning streak to 10 consecutive wins, entering the ATP top 20 for the first time (also regaining the Italian No. 1 spot). He defeated Albert Ramos, Marcel Granollers and hometown hero Tommy Haas for the second time in two weeks to reach the semi-finals. Here, Fognini beat Nicolás Almagro in straight sets to reach a consecutive ATP World Tour final, the first one in an ATP 500 tournament. He won the title by beating qualifier Federico Delbonis in three sets, recovering from 1–4 down in the second set and saving three match points in the second set tiebreak. He reached his third tour final in as many weeks at Umag, defeating Thiemo de Bakker, Martin Kližan and Gaël Monfils en route. The latter saw Fognini serving for the match having won the first five games, then losing six straight games, and then winning in a tiebreak. His 13-match winning streak was ended in the final by Tommy Robredo, whilst his ranking rose to a new career-high of World No. 16.

Seeded No. 14 in Cincinnati, Fognini was down a set and four games to Radek Štěpánek. He proceeded to mount a comeback to four-all, and serving to stay in the match, he served two double faults, received a point penalty for ball abuse and then casually committed consecutive foot faults to get broken to love and lose the match. "Video: Fabio Fognini bows out gracelessly at Western & Southern Open", SI.com, 13 August 2013.

At the Asian hardcourt leg, Fognini reached the quarterfinals of Beijing, defeating resurgent veterans Tommy Robredo and Lleyton Hewitt (the latter for the loss of only 2 games). In the quarters, he was dominating World No. 2 Rafael Nadal by a set and three love, before eventually losing in three sets. In the following weeks, he again defeated Robredo en route to the third round of the Shanghai Masters and reached the quarterfinals of Vienna and Valencia.

As the top seed at the Chile Open in Viña del Mar, he reached his first singles final of the season (and fourth consecutive in clay tournaments) defeating Aljaž Bedene, Jérémy Chardy and 3rd seed Nicolás Almagro en route. The latter was a classically unorthodox affair, with Fognini leading 5–2 in the final set, squandering two match points, only to eventually win in a tiebreak. He defeated Leonardo Mayer in the final, converting his fifth match point for his third career title. He then won the quarterfinal Davis Cup rubber for Italy against Great-Britain, defeating Andy Murray on clay in straight sets. This took Fabio's record on clay to 19–1 since the French Open and resulted in yet another leap in the rankings, to a new career-high of World No. 14. "Fognini Upends Mayer for Vina del Mar Title", ATP official site, 9 February 2014.

Fognini was fined a then record $27,500 (£21,600) at Wimbledon for a series of offences during a first-round match.

At the US Open, after a first round loss to Stefano Travaglia, Fognini was immediately suspended from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct, specifically three violations including using misogynistic language towards the female umpire. This caused him to default his third round doubles match with partner Simone Bolelli. On 11 October, the Grand Slam board provisionally suspended Fognini for two majors and fined him US$96,000 for a "Major Offence of Aggravated Behaviour." The fine will be halved and the ban of two majors will be lifted if good behavior is maintained through 2019.

At the St. Petersburg Open, Fognini reached the final by defeating top seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-final. He lost in the final to Damir Džumhur in three sets.

During the South American Clay Court swing, Fognini played Argentina Open, losing the first round to Leonardo Mayer. He then won three 3-setters in Rio Open before crashing out to Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals. At the Brasil Open in São Paulo, Fognini beat Domingues, Garcia-Lopez, and Cuevas to reach the final. He then came from one set down to beat Nicolas Jarry and win his first title in 2018. Due to his strong performance in South America, Fognini rose to No. 19 in the ATP ranking, his best in more than three years.

In Rome, after defeating 6th seed Dominic Thiem, Fognini won the first set against 7-time champion Rafael Nadal before losing in three sets. He was defeated in the fourth round of the French Open by 3rd seed Marin Čilić in 5 sets.

Fognini won his second title of the year at the Swedish Open in Båstad. The following week, as the top seed at the Swiss Open, Fognini exited the tournament early. He then traveled to Mexico to compete in the Los Cabos Open. Despite having little preparation on hard courts leading into the tournament, Fognini managed to win the title after defeating world number 4 Juan Martín del Potro in the final. Fognini's unique hairstyle he wore throughout the tournament garnered attention with some labeling it a "lucky charm".

During the autumn, the Italian reached the final of the Chengdu Open where he held four championship points against world number 123 Bernard Tomic. Fognini was however unable to convert and lost the final in a third set tiebreaker. In his next tournament he reached the semi-finals of Beijing, but was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury. He subsequently withdrew from the Shanghai Masters due to the same injury.

After the most decorated season of his career in terms of titles won, Fognini ended the year at his then career high ranking of No.13.

Fognini extended his winning streak to seven matches at the Madrid Masters before losing to Dominic Thiem in the third round. At the French Open, Fognini reached the fourth round where he lost to Zverev in four sets. Following the tournament, Fognini entered into the world's top 10 for singles for the first time in his career. He became the oldest player to break into the top-10 since the establishment of ATP rankings in 1973.

Following his third-round defeat at Wimbledon, to Tennys Sandgren, Fognini was fined $3,000 (£2,396) after he said, during an on-court outburst, that Wimbledon should be bombed.

In November 2020, Fognini teamed up with new coach Alberto Mancini.

Fognini reached the fourth round of the 2021 Australian Open for the fourth time, this time beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert in straight sets, Salvatore Caruso in a narrow fifth set tiebreak, and home favourite and 21st seed Alex de Minaur. He lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. The Caruso match was notable for an argument the pair had in which Fognini accused Caruso of being lucky.

Fognini failed to defend his title in Monte Carlo, but still reached the quarterfinals, beating Miomir Kecmanović, Jordan Thompson and Filip Krajinović before losing to Casper Ruud in straight sets.

At the 2021 Barcelona Open, Fognini was defaulted during his second round match against Bernabé Zapata Miralles for verbal abuse towards a line judge after being called for a foot fault.

At the 2021 French Open, Fognini reached the third round for the ninth time, where he was beaten in straight sets by Federico Delbonis. At the 2021 Wimbledon Championships he also reached the third round where he lost to 5th seed Andrey Rublev.

At the 2022 French Open he defeated Alexei Popyrin which put him one win away from his 400th career win. At the 2022 Hamburg European Open he reached the second round defeating Aljaž Bedene to earn his 400th career win. He became only the 14th active player to win 400 matches and the first Italian man in the Open Era with 400 tour-level wins followed by Adriano Panatta with 391 wins, and by Andreas Seppi with 386 wins, who was the second-most among active Italians.

At the 2023 US Open, in the qualifying competition, he lost in the first round to Jakub Mensik. He also received a wildcard for the Shanghai Masters. In November 2023, he reached his first ATP semifinal of the season, and first since April 2022 in Metz also as a wildcard defeating previous year’s runner-up Alexander Bublik after saving two match points in a match with two tiebreaks, and defending champion and compatriot Lorenzo Sonego. He won the Valencia Challenger over Roberto Bautista Agut, a final in which two former top 10 players met for the first time since Guillermo Canas beat Nicolas Lapentti in Montevideo in 2006.

He received a wildcard for the 2024 BNP Paribas Open and defeated Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the first round. In the beginning of the clay court season he qualified at the 2024 Grand Prix Hassan II and defeated Hugo Gaston and top seed Laslo Djere to reach the quarterfinals.

Fognini competed in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, where he beat No. 8 seed Casper Ruud, on his way to the third round, where he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets. Fognini finished the season inside the top 100, at world No. 91 in the singles ATP rankings on 9 December 2024.

On 7 May 2025, Fognini announced that his 18th appearance at the 2025 Italian Open, as a wildcard, will be his final in his career.

On 30 June 2025, after being defeated by defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match in the first round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, Fognini hinted at the possibility that it may be his last professional tournament. On 9 July 2025, Fognini officially announced his retirement from tennis.

In November 2016, he moved from Adidas apparel to Hydrogen, Italian leading luxury sportswear firm. in January 2017, Fognini signed a 3-years shoe supply agreement with ASICS In 2018, Fognini and his wife Flavia Pennetta signed to become ambassadors of the Emporio Armani collection. From January 2019 onwards he wore the bold designs of Emporio Armani EA7 sportswear on-court.