'They will not have to compete with Roger Federer, Nadal, Djokovic', says ATP ace

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33-year-old Fabio Fognini became a professional tennis player in 2004, the first year that saw Swiss Roger Federer at the top of the ATP rankings. A few months later, a very young Rafael Nadal, winner of Roland Garros at 19, would also appear on the world tennis scene. Serbian Novak Djokovic would have achieved his first successes on the major Tour in 2006, a season that saw him lift his first career trophy in Amersfoort, Holland. Despite these big names, Fabio managed to conquer 9 ATP titles (including the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, in 2019), to reach number 9 in the world rankings and to compete in a quarter-final at Roland Garros. Fabio Fognini recently gave his thoughts on his rivalry with Rafael Nadal, explaining why the Spaniard sometimes finds it difficult to subdue him.

Fabio Fognini praises the Big 3

"Rafa is Rafa and he could spend a whole day explaining what it means," Fabio Fognini said. "I have had a career in which I have met the best in history. When I qualified for the second week of a Grand Slam I was already happy because I was playing Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer. Sometimes Murray, sometimes Del Potro. Those who come later will be lucky because in two, three, four years they will not have to compete with them." Men’s tennis is controlled and governed by the Association of Tennis Professionals, commonly known as the ATP. It controls and handles the tour’s various events, the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Champions Tour. On the other hand, the French Open, also known as Roland Garros, held in the city of Paris, was founded in 1891 and is organized by the French Tennis Federation. Similar to last season, the French Open has been postponed. Last year, the organizers held the Grand Slam event in late September. Although, in the current season, the organizers have postponed the event only by a week which means the tournament will commence on May 30. Taking note of this inconvenience, Steve Johnson came down heavy and stated, “We players are always told ATP is such a great system cause we are “equal partners”. Well, what type of system allows Masters 1000 events to pay 60% less when BNP Paribas Open is trying to host their event at 100%. But can’t get approval because other tournament directors are ATP Board members and they want to benefit from these reductions?”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3ahgvTf

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