Surprising Fabio Fognini Snares Monte-Carlo Crown - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Fabio Fognini beat Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 to win the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Jay Clark beat Prajnesh Gunnesharan 6-4 6-3 to win the Kunming Open in Anning, China

Tommy Paul beat Tennys Sandgren 6-3 6-4 to win the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open in Sarasota, Florida, USA

FED CUP

World Group Semifinals

France beat Romania 3-2 at Rouen, France

Australia beat Belarus 3-2 at Brisbane, Australia

World Group Playoffs

Czech Republic beat Canada 4-0 at Prostejov, Czech Republic; United States beat Switzerland 3-2 at San Antonio, Texas, USA; Germany beat Latvia 3-1 at Riga, Latvia; Spain beat Belgium 3-2 at Kortrijk, Belgium

World Group II Playoffs

Russia beat Italy 4-0 at Moscow, Russia; Japan beat Netherlands 4-0 at Osaka, Japan; Great Britain beat Kazakhstan 3-1 at London, Great Britain; Slovakia beat Brazil 3-1 at Bratislava, Slovakia

Group II, Americas Zone: Peru and Venezuela promoted to Americas Zone Group I in 2020

Group III, Europe/Africa Zone: Finland and Egypt promoted to Europe/Africa Zone II in 2020

SAYINGS

“This is a great achievement, but it’s tough to beat Rafa and then play a final.” – Fabio Fognini, who did just that: beat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals at Monte-Carlo before his winning his first Masters 1000 title.

“It was my first time in a final, so a great experience for me. It’s many more positives than negatives this week, so there is no reason to be sad even if I don’t feel as happy as the whole week today. But I know that it’s my best result, and I just hope that I can repeat this result in some other event, as well, in the future.” – Dusan Lajovic, after losing in the Monte-Carlo final.

“I deserved to lose.” – Rafael Nadal, after falling to Fabio Fognini in the semifinals at Monte-Carlo.

“If you told me at the beginning of the week, I will see you on Sunday, I would (have) laughed in your face. I was 6-4, 4-1 down and break point for 5-1, and I hit an ace on the line. But that’s incredible sport. So, I was lucky.” – Fabio Fognini, talking about his first-round win at Monte-Carlo.

“It’s definitely the best match of my career. Not in terms of level of tennis, but definitely by the result.” – Daniil Medvedev, following his Monte-Carlo victory over top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

“If I’m being honest, the favorite is still Rafael Nadal. I’m not the only one that says this. He’s won, I don’t know how many times, and he’s still the favorite every week that we play on this surface.” – Fabio Fognini, noting Rafael Nadal’s clay-court record.

“This is my best ever Fed Cup singles match. It’s an amazing feeling.” – Pauline Parmentier, who won her singles match for France, forcing a decisive doubles match which France won to advance to the Fed Cup final.

“Every match was incredible.” – Julien Benneteau, French Fed Cup captain after his team edged Romania 3-2 to advance to the women’s international team competition final in November.

“I could not have picked two more perfect athletes to compete. Ash and Sam are superstars.” – Alicia Molik, Australian Fed Cup captain after Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur’s doubles win over Belarus put Australia into the Fed Cup final.

“Our dream is to win the Fed Cup again because that’s where we belong. I hope that doesn’t sound too arrogant. I’ve been involved in three finals and lost all of them, hence winning the competition remains one of my career goals.” – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, after leading Russia to a 4-0 sweep of Italy in Fed Cup.

“I had tears in my eyes even when I was warming up. It was beautiful.” – Lucie Safarova, who won the doubles in her last Fed Cup match for the Czech Republic.

“We’re oldies but goodies.” – Andrea Petkovic, noting that the original four players selected to beat Latvia – herself, Angelique Kerber, Julia Goerges and Anna-Lise Groenefeld – were the same foursome who lost a Fed Cup playoff to Australia seven years ago.

“I’m already in the autumn of my career.” – Mona Barthel, after being told that at age 28 she was the youngest member of Germany’s Fed Cup team.

“Being a tennis player is a wonderful job. Every talented boy should try to become professional, but there is a bad and good side. … It’s great talking about it once you have made it, but there are a thousand ones who did not make it and I like to remind that.” – Boris Becker, on being a professional tennis player.

SURPRISING FINAL

It was supposed to be Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal, the battle between the world’s top two-ranked players, with Nadal seeking to win the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament for a record 12^th time. Instead, Fabio Fognini became the first Italian to win Monte-Carlo in 51 years. “I was born nearby, so this is extraordinary,” the 31-year-old Fognini said after defeating Dusan Lajovic in straight sets. In a way, the title match was anticlimactic. Fognini beat third-ranked Alexander Zverev before ending Nadal’s 18-match win streak in the semifinals. “I started the season rather badly, so this is unbelievable,” Fognini said. “I’m very content with this victory, especially with all of the Italians here today.” The last Italian champion at Monte-Carlo was Nicola Pietrangeli, who won in 1961, 1967 and 1968. Lajovic was playing in his first ATP final, and he had reached the title match without the loss of a set. It took Fognini 44 minutes to change that. But after the Italian broke Lajovic to lead 3-2 in the second, he called for a medical timeout and had his right thigh and a heel taped. It didn’t appear to both him as he closed out his biggest victory on his second match point. “This is something incredible,” Fognini exclaimed. Lajovic was also thrilled with his week despite the loss. “It was my first time in the finals, so a great experience for me,” the Serb said. He also came into Monte-Carlo after being sick the week before. “I was on antibiotics last week. I didn’t know how I’d do,” Lajovic said. He did fantastic, upsetting fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem on his way to the final. “Today was not easy, there was a lot of wind,” Lajovic said. “Fabio is a guy who knows how to play in these conditions. He has great hands, he’s moving really well.”

SQUEEKER

Ashleigh Barty won both of her singles, then teamed with Samantha Stosur to capture the doubles and lead Australia into the Fed Cup final for the first time since 1993. The doubles became crucial when Victoria Azarenka crushed Stosur 6-1 6-1 in the reverse singles to knot the best-of-five-matches competition at 2-2. “It was about either we stay and fight for another match or go home,” Azarenka said of her win over Stosur. “So, I was very focused.” Barty proved to be the best of all. She began the two-day competition by beating Azarenka 7-6 (2) 6-3 to pull Australia even at 1-1. Barty began Day Two with a 6-2 6-2 win over Aryna Sabalenka before Azarenka’s victory leveled the tie once again. Barty, however, was not finished, pairing with Stosur to beat Azarenka and Sabalenka 7-5 3-6 6-2. “We knew it was going to be a tough one and we are just so happy with how we played,” Stosur said. “All the girls have worked so hard throughout the year and we really stick together.”

SNARES SEMIFINAL

When Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic won the doubles, beating Simona Halep and Monica Niculescu, it put France into the Fed Cup final for the sixth time and ended Romania’s dreams to reach its maiden final. France last won the women’s international team event in 2003 and will go to Australia for the Nov. 9-10 final. Garcia and Mladenovic, both 25 years old, beat the Romanians 5-7 6-3 6-4, closing out the victory on their first match point in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in Rouen, France. The winning pair were playing together for the first since they lost to the Czech Republic in the deciding doubles of the 2016 Fed Cup final. Halep beat Garcia in the day’s first singles match, giving the Romanians a 2-1 lead. But Pauline Parmentier, who had won just one of her eight Fed Cup rubbers, beat Irina Begu 6-3 2-6 6-2 to send the best-of-five-matches tie into the decisive doubles. “I found out I was playing last night,” Parmentier said. “I didn’t sleep very well, and I was awake pretty early, ready to play.”

SAYONARA

Two players ended their Fed Cup careers by helping their countries to victory. Lucy Safarova was part of the winning doubles team as the Czech Republic retained its World Group status by crushing Canada 4-0, while Dominika Cibulkova led Slovakia to an unassailable 3-0 lead over Brazil in their World Group II playoff.

A left-hander, Safarova has played Fed Cup for the Czech Republic since 2004 and was the leader in the country’s 2012 and 2014 triumps. “Her contribution has been huge,” Fed Cup captain Petr Pala said of Safarova. “She has helped us win so many close matches and as well as being such a great player, she has always worked so hard for the team.”

Cibulkova won both of her singles matches in Slovakia’s 3-1 win over Brazil, ending her Fed Cup career with a 22-11 singles record. After her second win, a gritty 7-6 (3) 6-0 victory over Beatriz Hadad Maia, there were hugs, kisses and high-fives from teammates. Cibulkova responded by spraying them with bottles of sparkling win and tearfully thanking the crowd for their love and support over the years.

STUNNER

Rafael Nadal was heading for his 12^th Monte-Carlo title when he ran into Fabio Fognini. The Italian stunned the second-seeded Nadal 6-4 6-2 in the semifinals at Monaco, snapping the left-hander’s 18-match winning streak. Nadal grabbed the first break of serve in the match and led 3-1 before Fognini ripped off 11 of the final 14 games. “I probably played one of the worst matches on clay in 14 years,” Nadal said. “When that happens, you have to lose. And today I deserved to lose because I played against a player that was better than me today.”

SHOCKS DJOKOVIC

Controlling play with his backhand, Daniil Medvedev shocked top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals, winning 6-3 4-6 6-2 in two hours, 20 minutes. “(Reaching my) first Masters 1000 semifinals, beating number one for the first time in my life. Just amazing,” Medvedev said. With the victory, his first in four career meetings against Djokovic, Medvedev became just the second player to defeat Djokovic in nine Monte-Carlo quarterfinals. David Goffin of Belgium was the first to achieve the feat in 2017. “He’s got a very solid backhand,” Djokovic said of Medvedev. “He doesn’t make many mistakes from the backhand.

“He hits it very low with depth. A windy day like today, conditions are changing every single game. It’s kind of tough to find the rhythm, and he doesn’t give you much rhythm. He improved his movement a lot since last year. He definitely deserves to be where he is.”

SKIPS TIE

Angelique Kerber missed Germany’s Fed Cup playoff victory over Latvia because of an illness. The reigning Wimbledon champion has been struggling to recover from a protracted bout of flu. She was told by doctors not to play last weekend. “I am disappointed and sad to miss the Latvia tie,” said Kerber, who is ranked fifth in the world.

SCHOOL-BOUND

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime has more in his future than life on the ATP Tour. “My dad messaged me the other day and said, ‘I have three pieces of advice: Keep working hard, stay the same person and find a school’,” the 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime said. “He wants me to go back to school, so I have to find an online school now. Having these kinds of people around you helps you stay the same person.” After reaching the final in Rio de Janeiro and the semifinals in Miami, Auger-Aliassime has moved into the Top 35 in the rankings. “I’m lucky to have great people around me,” said the Canadian, who became the youngest player to win an ATP Challenger Tour match when he was 14. “They’re always saying the right things and helping me do the right work.”

SUSPENDED AGAIN

Joao Souza’s suspension for corruption has been reinstated by the Tennis Integrity Unit. The Brazilian was provisionally suspended on March 29, but was reinstated on April 8 following a successful appeal. However, the TIU says the provisional suspension has been reinstated “following consideration of additional evidence submitted by the TIU. While giving no further reasons for the suspension, the TIU said no more appeals will be accepted. The 30-year-old Souza is currently ranked 422^nd in the world. In 2015, he reached a career-high ranking of 69^th. That was the year he played in the longest Davis Cup singles match, losing 15-13 in the first set to Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer after 6 hours, 42 minutes.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Anning: Max Purcell and Luke Saville beat David Pel and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 4-6 7-5 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Monte-Carlo: Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor beat Robin Haase and Wesley Koolfhof 6-7 (3) 7-6 (3) 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Sarasota: Martin Cuevas and Paolo Lorenzi beat Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6)

SURFING

Barcelona: https://www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com/es

Budapest: https://teniszjegyek.hu/Jegyvasarlas

Stuttgart: https://www.porsche-tennis.de/

Istanbul: http://istcup.net/

Estoril: http://millenniumestorilopen.com/en/

Munich: https://www.bmwopenbyfwu.de/

Puerta Vallarta: https://www.puertovallartaopen.com/en/