Rafa Nadal faces Italian Fabio Fognini this morning in the second round of the US Open. The Spaniard made his debut on the New York court with a victory against the Australian Rinky Hijikata (6-4, 2-6, 3-6 and 3-6). A demanding match against a stranger in which the man from Manaco showed that he had recovered from the physical problems that he had suffered a couple of months ago at Wimbledon and that forced him to withdraw from the British tournament.
This morning, on the Arthur Ashe track, he will face the current number 60 in the world, the Italian Fognini, whom he has faced on about twenty occasions, including a precedent in the New York tournament in 2015, which would end in victory by Fognini. Since they met for the first time, back in 2013 at the Masters 1,000 in Rome, they have faced each other a total of 17 times, with a balance of 13 victories for the Spanish, for 4 for the Italian.
Fognini comes to this duel after beating Aslan Karatsev in the first round. A very competitive tennis player with character who has already shown his Mediterranean blood against Manacorí in the past. In 2015, at the 1,000 Masters in Hamburg, the Italian had it out with Nadal, whom he accused of taking too long to serve and also in the past Wimbledon he had it with the Spaniard doubting the injury that forced him to withdraw.
The draw for the US Open draw can bring attractive duels once the first rounds are advanced. Nadal, second seeded behind Daniil Mevedev, could face the young Carlos Alcaraz in a hypothetical semifinals that would face one of the best tennis players in history against one of the revelations on the world scene.
The duel between Rafa Nadal and Fabio Fognini will be played this morning, not before 2:30 a.m., Spanish time, on the Arthur Ashe court. It will be the second turn of the night session, once the Williams sisters' women's doubles match is over. In Spain, the US Open can be seen live through Eurosport and La Vanguardia will also offer minute by minute highlights of the match.
