Francesca Schiavone’s countryman, Fabio Fognini, has defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the final of the Mercedes Cup. Fognini won the match in three sets by 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
This is the first ATP title won by Fognini in his career. He totally deserved that. He played some wonderful tennis against Kohlschreiber who was given the second seed in the tournament.
This was the 3rd match between these two players and Fognini defeated Kohlschreiber for the first time.
In the post match interview, Fognini said, “I had been in the finals a couple of times before, but, on both the occasions, I had lost. So, I was nervous today. But, fortunately, things went my way and I won.”
“I am glad to win my first title. This has been an incredible week for me. I played at my very best and defeated some quality players. This win is a real confidence booster for me.”
Kohlschreiber on the other hand was looking perplexed while talking to the reporters after the match. He said, “I am obviously sad to have lost the final. I didn’t manage to be consistent right through the match. Fabio had a fantastic tournament and I would like to congratulate him.”
In the opening set, neither of the two players managed to sneak a breakthrough in the first 10 games and the scores were levelled at 5-5.
Fognini dropped his serve in the 11th game to get trailed by 5-6. He needed a breakthrough in the next game to take the set further, but, he failed to do that. Kohlschreiber held his serve in the 12th game quite easily and sealed the opener by 7-5.
In the next two sets, Kohlschreiber couldn’t keep the momentum going. He served poorly in both the sets and lost both of them by the same margin of 4-6.