French Open 2018: Fabio Fognini ‘faster than Rafael Nadal’ says Pat Cash after Edmund win
FRENCH OPEN 2018 – Fabio Fognini triumphed in a gruelling five-set showdown against Britain’s Kyle Edmund today, battling back from a set down after three to book his place in the last 16 of the competition.
The Italian had a rollercoaster afternoon at Roland Garros, producing a display that showcased both the best and worst aspects of his clay-court game.
But it proved enough to overcome his 23-year-old Edmund, who appeared to suffer a side strain in the second set, requiring a medical timeout before resuming play.
One sequence of play showed Fognini demonstrate his blistering on-court pace to reach Edmund’s drop shot near the net, firing a reply just wide of the line – but BBC analyst Pat Cash was left stunned with his athleticism.
“Fognini is so quick, he got there with ease. The ball was still two feet above the court,” Cash said.
“He just hit it cross-court two feet too wide. I talked to one of the players in the locker room who was just stretching, [Martin] Klizan, and we were watching Fognini with a few of the guys.
“One of the doubles players turned to him and said ‘who is the fastest guy on the court?’, and he said ‘Fognini’.
“‘Even faster than Rafa?’ And he goes ‘Yeah – but not as fast as [Gael] Monfils’
“So that’s what he thinks – Monfils has got the long reach, of course, but that is pretty impressive to say he’s [Fognini] a little bit faster than Rafa.”
Elsewhere, Maria Sharapova demolished Karolina Pliskova in straight sets 6-2 6-1 to set up a potential last-16 meeting with Serena Williams.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, takes on German 11th seed Julia Goerges later today with a place against Sharapova up for grabs.