Fabio Fognini

At the US Open, after a first round loss to Stefano Travaglia, Fognini was immediately suspended from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct, specifically three violations including using misogynistic language towards the female umpire. This caused him to default his third round doubles match with partner Simone Bolelli. On 11 October, the Grand Slam board provisionally suspended Fognini for two majors and fined him $96,000 US dollars for a "Major Offence of Aggravated Behaviour." The fine will be halved and the ban of two majors will be lifted if good behavior is maintained through 2019.

Fognini started his 2018 season at the Sydney International, where he reached the semi-finals and was defeated by the eventual champion, Daniil Medvedev in three sets despite being up a set and a break. At the 2018 Australian Open, he reached the fourth round, losing to Tomas Berdych in straight sets.

During the South American Clay Court swing, Fognini played Argentina Open, losing the first round to Leonardo Mayer. He then won three 3-setters in Rio Open before crashing out to Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals. At the Brasil Open in São Paulo, Fognini beat Domingues, Garcia-Lopez, and Cuevas to reach the final. He then came from one set down to beat Nicolas Jarry and win his first title in 2018. Due to his strong performance in South America, Fognini rose to No. 19 in the ATP ranking, his best in more than three years.

Fognini won his fourth ATP title at July's 2016 Croatia Open at Umag. He also reached the third round of the 2016 Rio Olympics where he pushed the then world no. 2 and defending Olympic champion, Andy Murray, to three sets.

On November 2016, he moved from Adidas apparel to Hydrogen, Italian leading luxury sportswear firm. in January 2017, Fognini signed a 3-years shoe supply agreement with ASICS Beginning with January 2019, Fognini and his wife Flavia Pennetta become testimonials of the Emporio Armani collection

Since 2014, Fognini has been in a relationship with Italian tennis compatriot Flavia Pennetta, from Brindisi, a retired player who won the 2015 US Open singles title. The couple were engaged in 2015 and married in Ostuni on 16 June 2016. Their son, Federico, was born in May 2017. Their second child, a daughter named Farah, was born on 23 December 2019.

At the Australian Open, Fognini was seeded 15th. He reached a career-best performance of the fourth round, defeating Alex Bogomolov Jr., Jarkko Nieminen and Sam Querrey, before falling to three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic.

Fognini started his 2015 season at the Hopman Cup, partnering Flavia Pennetta. Italy failed to reach the final, finishing at the bottom of their group. The following week, he played at the Apia International Sydney as the top seed, but was unlucky to draw defending champion Juan Martín del Potro, who was returning from an eleven-month injury lay-off, in his first match. He lost in three sets. He beat Rafael Nadal in the Semifinals of the Rio Open before losing in the final to David Ferrer. In April, he beat Rafael Nadal again in the third round of the Barcelona Open, but he again lost in the next round to Pablo Andujar. In May, after defeating Steve Johnson and Grigor Dimitrov, he lost to Tomáš Berdych in the third round of the Rome Masters. At the US Open, Fognini beat Steve Johnson and Pablo Cuevas to advance to the third round where he caused a major upset, beating Rafael Nadal in five sets, coming from two sets and a break of serve down in both the third and fourth sets. In that match, Nadal won the first two sets, and previously had been 151–0 in Grand Slam matches that he led two sets to none. Earning 70 winners, Fognini ended up beating Nadal in five sets. He subsequently lost his fourth round match against Feliciano López.

As a junior, Fognini posted a singles win/loss record of 72–36. He achieved a combined ranking of No. 8 in the world in May 2004, reaching the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and French Open.

Fognini was defeated by Roberto Bautista-Agut in five sets in the first round of the 2013 Australian Open. He and Bolelli embarked on another deep Grand Slam run in the doubles, reaching the semifinals, where they lost to the World No. 1 pair, Bob and Mike Bryan.

He reached his first singles quarterfinal of the season at Buenos Aires, losing to top seed David Ferrer in straight sets (whilst winning the doubles alongside Bolelli). The next week, Fognini achieved a career-best performance at ATP 500 events with a semifinals showing in Acapulco, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka along the way and again losing to Ferrer (but this time taking a set). Just over a week later, Fognini set up a clash with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, after defeating Aljaž Bedene for the second time in three weeks to reach the second round of the Indian Wells Masters. After being bagelled in the first, Fognini wildly celebrated upon winning his first game in the second, heroically taking the set from 2–4 down. He subsequently lost the third. In Miami, Fognini was seeded at a Masters event for the first time in his career, earning a bye to the second round. He defeated Michaël Llodra, and lost to Ferrer again in the third round.

Fognini began his grass-court season at the 2013 Aegon International held at Eastbourne, where he was seeded eighth. He defeated Grega Zemlja and Martin Klizan, both from a set down, before falling to Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Fognini lost in the first round to Jürgen Melzer, after leading by a set and a break.

At the 2013 MercedesCup in Stuttgart, Fognini reached his third career final, defeating top seed and home favourite Tommy Haas en route. He won his maiden title, by beating second seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in three sets. The following week, after an outstanding performance at 2013 International German Open, Fognini improved his winning streak to 10 wins in a row, entering the ATP top 20 for the first time (also regaining the Italian No. 1 spot). He defeated Albert Ramos, Marcel Granollers and hometown hero Tommy Haas for the second time in two weeks to reach the semifinals. Here, Fognini beat Nicolás Almagro in straight sets to reach his second ATP World Tour final in a row, the first one in an ATP 500 tournament. He won the title by beating qualifier Federico Delbonis in three sets, recovering from 1–4 down in the second set and saving three match points in the second set tiebreak. He reached his third tour final in as many weeks at Umag, defeating Thiemo de Bakker, Martin Kližan and Gaël Monfils en route. The latter saw Fognini serving for the match having won the first five games, then losing six straight games, and then winning in a tiebreak. His 13-match winning streak was ended in the final by Tommy Robredo, whilst his ranking rose to a new career-high of World No. 16.

As the top seed at the Chile Open in Viña del Mar, he reached his first singles final of the season (and fourth in a row in clay tournaments) defeating Aljaž Bedene, Jérémy Chardy and 3rd seed Nicolás Almagro en route. The latter was a classically unorthodox affair, with Fognini leading 5–2 in the final set, squandering two match points, only to eventually win in a tiebreak. He defeated Leonardo Mayer in the final, converting his fifth match point for his third career title. He then won the quarterfinal Davis Cup rubber for Italy against Great-Britain, defeating Andy Murray on clay in straight sets. This took Fabio's record on clay to 19–1 since the French Open and resulted in yet another leap in the rankings, to a new career-high of World No. 14.

Fognini went to the semifinals of Miami before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal. He rounded off strong finishes in the clay-court season including a defeat of world No. 1, Andy Murray. At Wimbledon, Fognini reached the third round, where he faced Murray again. This time Murray won in four sets, despite Fognini leading 5–1 in the fourth set. Fognini also captured the trophy in Gstaad over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.

Fognini guided Italy into the quarterfinals of the 2013 Davis Cup World Group, defeating Ivan Dodig in the fifth and decisive rubber against Croatia. It was the first time Italy had reached that stage since 1998. He also guided Italy past Argentina to the quarterfinals the following year, winning both singles rubbers against Juan Mónaco and Carlos Berlocq, and the doubles rubber (partnering Simone Bolelli). In the quarterfinals in Naples against Great Britain, Fognini equalled the tie at 2–2 after defeating reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in a straight sets win (after defeating James Ward two days previously), proving vital to Italy making the semifinals with an eventual 3–2 victory. This was only the second time Murray had lost a singles rubber in the Davis Cup (after his first appearance ever in 2005). In the semifinal against Switzerland he lost both his singles rubbers to Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.

A clay-court specialist, Fognini is known for his streaky temperament, as well as his flair, speed, and movement on court. He has been known to lose his cool on occasion. He famously lost his cool and blew up 3–0 lead in final set against Andy Murray in Olympics. He was thrown out of the 2017 U.S. Open over obscene remarks made to a female umpire. He has also shown that he is capable of maintaining a strikingly balanced disposition when facing adversity. He holds the record for committing the most foot faults whilst still winning a match: a grand total of 12, including double-faulting due to consecutive foot faults. Fognini's serve is relatively underpowered and hardly a trademark weapon, but he places emphasis on precision and placement, whilst also having the ability to hit above 130 mph on occasion. Known for his baseline play and big ground strokes despite his average stature, one of his signature shots is his off forehand, which he uses to great effect. His tactics usually consist of a serve out wide, drawing a weak return, setting Fognini up to hit a clean winner off the forehand side. He also utilises the backhand down the line frequently, often in key moments.

After numerous ATP semifinal appearances, Fognini finally reached his first career final at Bucharest in April 2012, ousting fifth seed Marcos Baghdatis and sixth seed Andreas Seppi along the way. He finished runner-up to top seed Gilles Simon.

At the 2012 French Open, he was once again the subject of much drama, saving two match points while battling past the seeded Viktor Troicki in five sets to advance to the third round for the third successive year. He subsequently lost to World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a match with considerable shot-making flair and variety. In the Croatia Open, Fabio lost to defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the second round.

Fognini began his grass season by reaching the quarterfinals of Eastbourne, defeating fourth seed Bernard Tomic along the way, and falling to eventual tournament winner Andy Roddick in a tight three-set match. At Wimbledon, he defeated experienced grass-courter Michaël Llodra in the first round and again lost to the eventual tournament winner, Roger Federer, in the second round. In the London 2012 Olympics, Fognini was drawn against Novak Djokovic in the first round. He valiantly took the first set after being down 3–5 and saving three set points, before finally succumbing in three sets.

In 2011 Fognini achieved a number of breakthroughs. He reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time at the 2011 French Open. He defeated Denis Istomin in the first round and qualifier Stéphane Robert in the second. In the third round, Fognini beat Guillermo García-López, the 30th seed, in four sets to advance to his first Grand Slam fourth round. Here, he made the quarterfinals in dramatic fashion as he beat Spaniard Albert Montañés in a match lasting 4 hours and 22 minutes. Barely able to walk at the end, Fognini eventually prevailed and clinched the epic match 11–9 in the fifth set. After the match, he described his run at the French Open as a "little dream", maintaining that he "would love to play the next match ... even if I'm only at 50 percent". He was due to face World No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals but, prior to the match, he announced that he had made the "difficult" decision to withdraw on doctors' advice that it would be "dangerous" to play. Nonetheless, Fognini became the first Italian man in the French Open quarterfinals since 1995 and the first to reach that stage at a Grand Slam since 1998. His achievement saw him rise to a then career-high singles ranking of World No. 32.

With Simone Bolelli, Fognini reached the semifinals of the 2011 US Open men's doubles.

A remarkable win during this season was against the 13th seed Gaël Monfils at the 2010 French Open by also coming from two sets to love down in a match that spanned two days. In June 2010, Fognini followed up his vein of good form as he defeated Fernando Verdasco, the 8th seed, in the first round of Wimbledon without dropping serve the entire match.

In Rome, after defeating 6th seed Dominic Thiem, Fognini won the first set against 7-time champion Rafael Nadal before losing in three sets. He was defeated in the fourth round of the French Open by 3rd seed Marin Čilić in 5 sets.

In April 2009, Fognini reached the third round of the 2009 Monte-Carlo Masters as a qualifier, upsetting Tomáš Berdych (after losing the first set 1–6) and 14th seed Marin Čilić (for the loss of only two games). Fognini then played a typically topsy-turvy match with World No. 4 Andy Murray, losing in two tight sets after being up 5–0 in the first set. In July, Fognini won the San Benedetto Challenger title defeating Cristian Villagran in the final.

Fognini lost a five-set first-round encounter against Michael Russell in the 2008 Australian Open.

After missing the 2008 French Open due to injury problems, Fognini reached the semifinals of both Warsaw and Umag (beating former World No. 1 and French Open champion Carlos Moyá), whilst also winning the Turin and Genova challengers, further enhancing his clay pedigree.

In 2007, Fognini made some real progress on the ATP Tour, notably when he qualified for the 2007 French Open to make his first appearance in a Grand Slam event. He lost in the first round to World No. 35 Juan Mónaco in five sets. In addition, he had a fantastic tournament at the 2007 Rogers Masters in Montreal, Canada. Having qualified for the tournament, he defeated Peter Polansky in the first round, before taking out the 13th seed Andy Murray in straight sets. Fognini was halted by World No. 1 Roger Federer in the third round.

Fognini began his professional career by playing a variety of Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning his first Futures title in 2005 at Spain No. 1 and another at Italy No. 9. In 2005, he also finished runner-up at Italy No. 3 and qualified for his first ATP Challenger tournament at Palermo. During 2006, Fognini had moderate success at Challengers and, after qualifying, made his debut on the ATP World Tour at Buenos Aires. He was defeated in the first round by former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, the eventual champion.

Fabio Fognini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfaːbjo foɲˈɲiːni] ; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked as the world number 12 by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Fognini's most successful surface is red clay, upon which he has won nine ATP singles titles, most notably at the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters, as well as having reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open. Together with Simone Bolelli, Fognini won the 2015 Australian Open doubles championship, becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era.

Fognini extended his winning streak to seven matches at the Madrid Masters before losing to Dominic Thiem in the third round. At the French Open, Fognini reached the fourth round where he lost to Zverev in 4 sets. Following the tournament, Fognini entered into the world's top 10 for singles for the first time in his career. He became the oldest player to break into the top-10 since the establishment of ATP rankings in 1973.