The stage is set for the all important Final of bet-at-home open, Hamburg and Rafael Nadal will take on the Italian Fabio Fognini.
The first semi-final began with Fognini taking on Lucas Pouille. Fognini managed a comfortable win over the Frenchman defeating him in straight sets 6-2, 7-6. Fognini didn’t play a completely dominating match but it was good enough to see him through to the finals of bet at home open. Fognini won 25 of the 27 first serve points even though he didn’t maintain a high first serve percentage. Fognini managed to convert 2 of his 8 break points whereas Pouille couldn’t manage to convert one and ended up on the losing side.
The second semi-final featured the Spaniard Rafael Nadal taking on the Italian Andreas Seppi and it turned out to be a one sided affair. Nadal was aggressive from the very first game and dictated play to the extreme and the Italian didn’t stand a chance against the super aggressive Nadal. Nadal eased his way to the finals with a comfortable straight sets victory 6-1, 6-2.
After his victory over Seppi, Nadal said that “I will try to keep playing well and enjoy today’s victory,”
“These are important points for me – 300 points for my goal of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is important. Matches like today help to bring you your confidence and your motivation for what you are doing.”
“From the beginning I played great, since the first game that I hit a few winners,”
“I was very comfortable on court today, feeling the ball well, with topspin to his backhand and then changing to his forehand down the line – a very important shot for me. In general it was a very positive match.
“Every victory is important. And this year with the up and downs that I’ve had, obviously every improvement is important. I played at a very high level. I’m very happy for that, playing with not many mistakes, very well with my backhand, very well with my forehand, hitting winners, changing speeds, changing directions. I think I played a great match.”
Nadal will take on Fognini in the finals and one could guarantee that Fognini can push Nadal to the extreme as he did it in the past tournaments at Rio and Barcelona. Fognini leads Nadal 2-0 in their past two meetings. Nadal would however like to carry the same form as he showed against Seppi and one can expect a competitive clash rather than a one sided affair.
Match Starts at 4.30 PM IST