By Chris Oddo | Monday February 6, 2017
Fabio Fognini stopped Argentina's comeback and created one of his own, surging past Guido Pella in five to lead Italy to the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Photo credit: @DavisCup
On Monday in Buenos Aires, Argentina found itself on the verge of becoming the 11th team in Davis Cup history to rebound from a 2-0 deficit to win a Davis Cup World Group tie.
Fabio Fognini would have none of that.
The Italian stormed back from the brink to defeat Guido Pella, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, to send Italy to the World Group quarterfinals where it will face Belgium.
“I am happy because I put everything I had, I played very badly at the beginning, I waited until the end to find my game, and now I feel great joy for this triumph," said Fognini told DavisCup.com after his win.
Argentina becomes the tenth defending Davis Cup champion to lose in the first round the following year with its loss. After getting swept on opening day, Carlos Berlocq and Leonardo Mayer helped Argentina prolong the tie on Saturday, earning the home side its first point with a dramatic five-set win over Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
On Sunday it was Berlocq to the rescue for Argentina again. He defeated Paolo Lorenzi in a grueling five-setter that was delayed often by rain. The duration of the match forced the finale to be moved to Monday, and it gave Fognini and Pella a night to think about the implications.
Maybe it had something to do with Fognini’s slow start.
Fognini had only managed one break in 15 opportunities over the first two-plus sets of the match, but he broke through for a critical break in the eighth game of the third set to spark the comeback against Pella.
Fognini broke for 2-1 and staved off five break point opportunities from Pella, moving on to take the fourth set.
Fognini took the final five games of the match, breaking for 3-2 and again for 5-2, before sealing the deal in four hours and 15 minutes for the jubilant Italian side.
With is victory Fognini improves to 18-7 in Davis Cup singles rubber. He is now 14-2 on clay in Davis Cup singles rubbers.
The Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals will take place on April 7-9. Here are the matchups: