After Aljaz Bedene scored the biggest win of his career in Hamburg at the Bet-at-Home Open, he came out today to face Fabio Fognini. In the second round Bedene had played one of the matches of his life as he took on and defeated the three seed Roberto Bautista Agut. The match between the friends was very close, with neither giving an inch.
The Brit stayed firm and held on to take the first set in the tiebreak in impressive fashion (7-2), more of the same followed in the second set as again neither player was giving anything away. Just like in the first set it went to a tiebreak and like the first the Brit took it, but it was closer this time 9-7. This put Bedene into the quarterfinal in Hamburg.
Fognini grabs a tight opening set
Facing the eight seed, the match would depend on which version of Fognini turned up. When playing well, the Italian is tricky for most players, but if the inconsistent Fognini took to the court, then it was a match that was very winnable for Bedene. The Brit was up for this match up, and was keeping with the eight seed for most of the set. In the end though, one break of serve by the higher ranked player was all it took, and the Italian sealed the set 6-4.
Another late break seals the set and match for Fognini
Going into the second set, the Brit was not going away. He was taking everything that the eight seed was throwing at him. Bedene was holding firm and keeping with the Italian, not faltering on his service games. The underdog was going toe-to-toe with Fognini, fighting hard to get a set.
With the score sitting at 5-5, all eyes were on the Brit to see if he could force a tiebreak. No matter what he tried in the next service game, the Brit was just not able to hold serve, eventually dropping the game. This would mean that the Italian would be serving for the match and setting up a semifinal meeting with Lucas Pouille.