The triumph on the red earth of the Principality brings Fabio to the best ranking in his career. And it opens the door to the top10 entrance, already available in the next tournament in Barcelona

Fabio Fognini

Unforgettable Easter for Fabio Fognini and for all Italian tennis world. The center of the party is the Montecarlo Country Club, with the Italian in triumph after the easy victory in the final against the Serbian Dusan Lajovic . A match that gives Fabio the magnificient climb.

NUMBER 12 - With the title in Montecarlo, the Ligurian has been number 12 in the world rankings since Monday (his personal record, the old record he had established on March 31, 2014 going up to the number 13 position), as Paolo Bertolucci was 12 in the world 23 August 1973, day of the first edition of the computerized ranking. Only Corrado Barazzutti (no 7 on 21 August 1978) and Adriano Panatta (no 4 on 24 August 1976) are better than them.

TOP10 - This victory effectively launches Fognini towards the top 10, a result that Italy has lacked since January 1979 when Corrado Barazzutti left the top 10 without returning. The Ligurian has only 245 points of delay from John Isner who is number 10 in the world. And already this week in Barcelona, ​​Fabio could enter the prestigious Top 10 club.

HISTORIC - Without bothering Nicola Pietrangeli's successes before the Era Open and winning the Davis Cup in Santiago de Chile in 1976, Fabio's victory in Monte Carlo is in order of importance the fourth largest for Italian tennis. The first remains the success of Adriano Panatta in Paris in 1976, then the victory of Panatta himself at the Foro Italico (again in 1976) and again of Panatta in Stockholm in 1975 (when he beat Jimmy Connors in the final by qualifying for the Year-end masters). Fognini is the fourth Italian to triumph over the terraced fields of Montecarlo after Giovanni Baldi di Robecco in 1922, Giovannino Palmieri in 1935 and the triplet of Nicola Pietrangeli in 1961, 1967 and 1968.

NOW BARCELONA - The Ligurian will start the adventure in the tournament of Barcelona where he is seeded number 8 and has been drawn in the opposite part to that of Nadal who is the number 1 of rankign. The Italian will make his debut in the second round against Nicola Kuhn or a qualified player, then in the second round with Shapovalov, in the Nishikori or Auger-Aliassime quarters and in the semifinal one between Zverev or Medvedev. A possible revenge against Nadal in the final could open the door for the Italian to the top 10.

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