By Adrianna Outlaw | Thursday, July 27, 2017
Wild card Fabio Fognini rallied into a Gstaad quarterfinal clash with Ernests Gulbis.
Photo credit: Swiss Open Gstaad
Returning to Gstaad for the first time in a decade, Fabio Fognini revealed his favorite thing about his practice sessions in the Swiss city.
“The end,” Fognini joked.
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The end nearly came early for the Italian wild card, who rallied from a flat first set fighting past Norbert Gombos, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, at the Swiss Open Gstaad.
In a match where the two men combined for 19 double faults—including 10 from Gombos—Fognini denied 11 of 15 break points in a 99-minute victory.
The fourth-seeded Fognini will face Ernests Gulbis in a quarterfinal of talented, temperamental and sometimes slightly crazed shotmakers.
Gulbis saved 10 of 11 break points in a 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-4 conquest of fifth-seeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi to advance to his first ATP quarterfinal since October 2015 World No. 313 Gulbis, who defeated Juan Martin del Potro en route to the Wimbledon third round, saved a pair of set points trailing 5-6 and 7-8 in the opening-set tie break.
The 28-year-old Latvian has beat Fognini in four of five prior matches with most of those victories coming on hard court.
World No. 170 Yannick Hanfmann shocked defending champion Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1 to reach his second Tour-level quarterfinal of the year.
The 25-year-old German previously played through qualifying reaching the last eight in Munich.
Hanfmann hit five of his 13 aces in the final set. He will play Joao Sousa for a semifinal spot. Sousa stopped Henri Laaksonen, 6-1, 6-2.
49 minutes. Hanfmann, who recovered from 15/40 at 5-5 in the first set, also reached the BMW Open by FWU quarter-finals as a qualifier in May (l. to Bautista Agut).