Rafael Nadal is on course for a ninth Barcelona Open title following his 6-2, 7-6(1) quarter-final victory over Italian Fabio Fognini in one hour and 50 minutes.
Rafa broke Fognini three times to take the first set but had to fight back from 4-2 down to force a tiebreaker, which Rafa won when Fognini’s return went wide.
After the match, Rafa said:
Fognini is so fast and you play under pressure against him. This year I don’t feel as nervous as last season.
Yesterday, I went to watch the movie London Has Fallen. I enjoyed it. (laughs)
Rafa has a 46-3 event record and will face either Russian world No. 47 Andrey Kuznetsov or German 10th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last four on Saturday. Our champ has never lost in Barcelona SF (8-0).
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain arrives on court before his match against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
xxx during day two of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
xxx during day two of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning a point against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning a point against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning a point against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Nadal won 6-2, 7-5. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Fabio Fognini of Italy during day five of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on April 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
So happy you beat that idiot–love u Rafa
How many days behind Spain are you? What planet? LOL
Rafa beat Fognini in the quarterfinal and then he beat Kohlschreiber in the semifinal on Saturday. Sunday, April 24, he will beat Nishikori in the final.
RAFA CONGRATS ON YOUR WIN AGAINST FOGNINI. YOU MUST HAVE BEEN UNDER PRESSURE TO PLAY HIM, SINCE HE BEAT YOU LAST YEAR.
YOU HAVE TO JUST REMEMBER, THAT YOU ARE A AWESOME PLAYER. YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO PLAY WELL. KEEP THE SELF CONFIDENCE GOING.
YOU ARE DOING A FANTASTIC JOB OUT THERE. YOUR TEAM SUPPORT IS GREAT.
YOUR BEAUTIFUL FAMILY IS ALSO OUT THERE TO SUPPORT YOU.
MOST OF ALL, YOUR DEAR N LOVED FANS ARE ALL WITH YOU.
LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOU RAFA.💖 ALWAYS, FOR THE BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING, THAT YOU ARE.
U BRING A SPARK TO THE COURTS WHEN YOU ARE OUT THERE TO PLAY.
LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOUR MILLION DOLLAR SMILE, SO KEEP SMILING.😊
GOD BLESS YOU DEAR.
🌸🌹🍀🍁🍂🌷🌺🌻🌼🌽🌾🌿
STAY HEALTHY. 🍅🍇🍈🍉🍐🍑🍒🍓🍍🍎🍏
Can hardly wait until tomorrow’s match. Vamos Rafa!
We are all very happy that Rafa won, and its good to see that the usual haters are keeping their distance. But having said that, the 2nd set was just terrible, and Rafa will need to do much better if he hopes to clinch more titles, especially the FO. Let’s hope there is a coaching game plan to clean up his game, because the problem is not Rafa, the problem is on the coaching bench, and they need to come up with a strategy that doesn’t only depend on Rafa’s awesomeness. Vamos Rafa!!!
I wouldn’t say the second set was terrible. Rafa had one bad game. Give Fognini some credit, he played some incredible tennis during part of the second set. Three big winners for the first three match points! I’m proud of Rafa for not giving up, and taking the second set! So happy to see him getting his mojo (mental strength, fighting sprit) back!
The stats speak for themselves:
Winners: Rafa 11 – Fognini 30
Unforced Errors: Rafa 16 – Fognini 37
You cannot win a game depending on the other guy’s errors, and not whacking enough winners yourself.
Rafa86 I did not see the whole match, but it seemed that a lot of points were forced errors, due to Rafa going for it in the rallies. He made Fognini miss in long exchanges.
i agree with u Rafa 86, I think Rafa lost some concentration in the second set. He played some short balls and had unforced errors. I am not sure what happened as he was a break up and then the errors started. I hope it was not the anxiety problem or memories of past matches with fognini that affected his game but it did seem something was wrong. The good thing is he managed to control the points again. But he really needs something extra, a few things from another coach to strengthen his serve maybe and more strategies which will help against the top players..
Well done Rafa, you have done a great job.
Keep up the abundant strength and courage,
Love and God bless,
Alaine Sydney Australia
Vamos Rafa sigue jugando agresivo y dandole a la bola duro eres un verdadero champion, suerte para manana
Well done Rafa you won and that’s the main thing he is a tough opponent but you did it
Continue one match at a time keep focused and play with aggression and keep your mind on winning and fight fight fight
Good luck for your next match
congrats rafa for a good win and good to see ur family attending ur match
it is always a though to play against a player who again and again throw kitchen sinks shots at u
keep that attitude, anger on ur face to demolish ur opponent by ur play and make them frustrated
already we have seen 3 great shots for the year from u in this match only
there was a moments in second set when errors were coming thick for u and there will be moments like this in future also but the way u fight backed from that moment was amazing ….this will definitely going to help for u r confidence rafa
i will thank fogini for one thing and that is the number of times he played drop shots
rafa just get that it is a indicator for u get good on that wing because i am sure novak will going to try this plan in clay court matches against you as he tried in RG 2015, so please get some work on it
today u hit an amazing running cross court backhand after so long and i am so happy for u
remember rafa to generate that high chest /shoulder bounce
The second set was definitely nerve wracking, but I thought Rafa would pull it out.
Fabio was recently married plus out with an injury, so he had gained some weight around the middle. Therefore, I thought Rafa could pull it out in three sets if he had to, but I was hoping it would not be necessary. Rafa has also moved up to number two in the Race to London.
Correction: Fabio is not yet married, but he definitely ate some pasta while he was injured. He can hit some amazing shots.
LOL Love me some pasta!
Rafa’s second set was up and down. He lost a bit of focus when he was a break ahead of fognini..made a lot of unforced errors and played some short balls. The positive thing is that unlike last year, he was able to get back on track and win the match without losing the second set. These kind of momentary lapses can be costly when playing tougher opponents.
Some great shots played in this match, expected it to be a lot closer in the first set.
VAMOS Rafa🎾🏆
Stay tough-mentally challenging match. Keep fighting-fire burning brightly.
👊🏆👑💪👍🏆👑💪👍♥️
Vamos Rafa. Good job today.
VAMOS Rafa ,,,,,
Wow, bit nail-biting there! But job done! Well done, Rafa.
BEAUTIFUL WIN DEAR RAFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) CONGRATULATIONS & GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 🙂 YOU PLAYED A FANTASTIC SOLID MATCH and we were happy to see you prevail strongly in 2 sets!!!! : ) Lots of love & happiness & have a beautiful day celebrating your great TENNIS !!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
Whewwwww, heart in mouth again ,but well done Rafa ,keep going ,
Vamos rafaluna!