Swaggering Italian Fabio Fognini rolled back the years with a dazzling display to knock out Wimbledon eighth seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-3 and reach the third round on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old former top-10 player, these days sporting peroxide blond hair, produced his trademark brand of languid shot-making to largely dominate Ruud on Court Two.
An early break of serve after a short rain delay was enough for him to take the first set.
Fognini was knocked out of his smooth stride when he suffered a heavy fall on the lush turf but dusted himself down to take the second set with a break of serve in the 12th game.
He appeared to be on the brink of victory against a flat-looking Ruud when he led 5-2 30-0 in the third set with a double break but twice failed when serving for the match.
Ruud dominated the tiebreak to extend the match but Fognini continued to call the shots in the fourth set and broke serve for a 5-3 lead. Three match points went begging as Fognini appeared to tighten up but at the fourth time of asking he belted away a forehand winner to seal the win.
Defeat left 25-year-old claycourt specialist Ruud still figuring out how to play his best on grass while Fognini is into the third round at Wimbledon for the seventh time in his 14th visit, although he has never gone further than that.
Norway’s Casper Ruud in action. | Photo Credit: AFP
“Maybe 14 is the lucky one,” Fognini said on court. “I was 5-2 up and the match was almost done but then at 5-4, too many things were coming into my head.
“But this is why I love and hate this sport. In the end he’s top 10 and I’m 37 and today was a good present for me.”
Three-times Grand Slam runner-up Ruud came into the tournament having recently been laid low by a stomach ailment that hampered him during his French Open semi-final defeat against Alexander Zverev.
Ruud, who has never reached the Wimbledon third round, said it had been caused by a parasite probably ingested by eating a salad washed in dirty water.
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