Sunday will see the conclusion of the bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships as Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini, both former champions here in Hamburg, will renew their rivalry in the final of the last ATP 500 level clay court tournament this year.
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It was much the same in the second and, despite a slight blip when the Spaniard was broken when serving for the match, the multiple Grand Slam victor hit back immediately to knock out Seppi.
For Nadal, it will be the 96th final of his career and his third in Hamburg, where he last won the title in 2008 by beating Roger Federer.
Fognini overcame qualifier Lucas Pouille 6-2 7-6 (7/2) to book his third meeting of the year with Nadal. “I was very comfortable on court today, feeling the ball well, with topspin to his backhand and then changing to his forehand down the line – a very important shot for me”.
Fognini had lost all four of his matches against Nadal prior to 2015, but he upset the Spaniard twice earlier this year at clay-court events in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.
“Every victory is important”.
The Italian had a day to forget, putting just 47 percent of his first serves in play, striking no aces and winning a higher percentage of points against Nadal’s serve (35 percent) than on his own (33 percent).
“I’m very happy for that, playing with not many mistakes, very well with my backhand, very well with my forehand, hitting winners, changing speeds, changing directions”.
The final will be the seventh match between the two players, having first faced each other in 2013.
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Cuevas, a semi-finalist in Hamburg in 2009, notched his 23rd win of the season as he defeated Janowicz in one hour and 34 minutes.
