Four-time champion Rafael Nadal will begin his Madrid Open campaign on Wednesday with a second round match against world number 29, Fabio Fognini.
Date: May 10, 2017
Match time: Around 3 PM local time / 9 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 2 PM BST – United Kingdom / 3 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / 11 PM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa leads their overall head-to-head 8-3. He most recently prevailed in the Miami semi-finals.
| YEAR | EVENT | SURFACE | RND | WINNER | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2016 | Barcelona Spain |
Outdoor Clay | QF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | Beijing China |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | US Open NY, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R32 | Fabio Fognini | |
| 2015 | Hamburg Germany |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | Barcelona Spain |
Outdoor Clay | R16 | Fabio Fognini | |
| 2015 | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
Outdoor Clay | SF | Fabio Fognini | |
| 2014 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R16 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2013 | Beijing China |
Outdoor Hard | QF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2013 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | R32 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2013 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Italy |
Outdoor Clay | R32 | Rafael Nadal |
Rafa has won four titles in the Spanish capital, with his most recent coming in 2014 when Kei Nishikori retired down 6-2, 4-6, 0-3 in the final. The past two years, Rafa has fallen to Andy Murray, in the 2015 final and in the semi-finals last year.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Source: ATP World Tour
Fognini seems to really hold some grudge against Rafa. Not the friendliest exchange at the net in this match and neither were the ones their pervious matches.
He also criticised the organiser for scheduling Rafa to play on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
I normally have no problems with players who beat Rafa fair and square but for some reason I can never like Fognini, no matter how well he can play at times.
I forgot to ask. The organisers did ask him and he agreed! Rafa of course thanked him and now he complains. That’s pretty low to me. Good player but such a whiner.
At IW this year he showed no sympathy for Nishikori when the match ended even though it’s clear Nishikori was playing through injury. Of course he should be happy for the win but at least show some restraint and respect for your injured opponent, who he would have almost no chance of beating when he’s healthy.
Rafa’s on the match:
“I think that even though I played really badly, my attitude has been very positive,” said Nadal. “My attitude and the will to win today’s match was there. My level of tennis was not so high today, but I managed to make it through. It was uncomfortable. I think before it wasn’t so windy, but when I started playing, it was a really awful day. It was really windy.””
Rafa said it was very windy and that he did not play well at all. BUT, “I think that even though I played really badly, my attitude [was] very positive. My attitude and the will to win today’s match was there. My level of tennis was not so high today, but I managed to make it through. It was uncomfortable. I think before it wasn’t so windy, but when I started playing it was a really awful day. It was really windy.”
👏👏CONGRATULATIONS👏👏 Rafa on a well-earned match.
RAFA ROCKS
He sure does, Margo 😃👍🏻
RAFA TOTALLY ROCKS! 🎾💪🏼😍
SÍ SÍ SÍ way to go sweet Rafa 🤗😃❤️
You did it – struggled a bit – but you did it. Loving your roar of relief in the end of the match 🎾💪🏼😅
VAMOOS CHAMP❣️
Not a great start but a win is a win. Congrats champ and continue your surge but needs to improve ur game against Nick krygios.
All the best
Well done Rafa , a hard match but you made it through on your never give in, never give up attitude. Take rest and prepare yourself for another hard slog against Mr Kyrgios.
As the saying goes – Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.
Oh no – back on serve. Rafa broken when serving for the match – this is getting a little difficult to watch
Oh joy of joys – rafa’s broken fabio in final set!
The second set stats is worrying as far as Rafa is concerned. Only 5 winners compared to 15 for Fabio. Rafa is having to chase too many balls because Fabio is putting them in awkward places. Rafa knows he has to change something!
Rafa too passive and too far behind. As for the service – the less said the better. Sad!
Hope he bucks up in the 3rd.
Cmon!!! VAMOS!!!!!
Oh no – 2nd set gone. Rafa isn’t playing great and defo not in that 2nd set. I’m sure he’ll get it together in the final set. If not – he will have a bit more rest which we all hoped for. So it’s a win win as long as any loss here doesn’t dent his confidence! But we will see