Fognini Makes Semis in Stuttgart

Perennial first or second round exiter Fabio Fognini is making a surprise run into the late stages of an ATP tournament for only the third time in his career.

He's doing so on the heels of one of his biggest career scalps, a in the quarterfinals of Stuttgart, defeating second seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. At #11 in the world, Davydenko is the highest ranked ever to fall to the player straight outta San Remo.

Fognini, who has a father named Fulvio and a sister named Fulvia, notched a nice 6-2, 6-0 win over Marin Cilic in Monte Carlo this spring. That was the kind of match he was capable of winning--one where the other guy never really showed up. But for him to prevail in a match that was tied 5-5 in in the third set against a tough opponent could represent a milestone in the 22-year old Italian's career.

I've seen Fognini play a couple times in person, and he's got some nice weapons, to be sure. He moves incredibly quickly and can hit just some pretty decent shots on the run off both wings.

He's also been, today's win excluded, totally useless in terms of mental toughness during the key stages of matches. When the going got tough, racquets got smashed, chains of Italian gestures and expletives flew, and Fognini routinely blew late leads and chances. If something happened (perhaps winning a $35k challenger in San Benedetto last week?) to give him the mental toughness he needed so badly, he could become a real threat to make some noise at some big clay court events next spring.