Italian tennis star Fabio Fognini defeated Spanish Rafael Nadal by 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in the third round who exhibited worst ever result in Barcelona since 2003.
Rafael Nadal faced defeat in straight sets against Fabio Fognini just after being defeated at Sao Paulo semi-final earlier this year while Nadal admitted to exhibit poor play after his earliest defeat in 12 years at the Barcelona Open.
It is noteworthy to mention here that Nadal had won the Barcelona Open title eight times.
Fognini, 27, grabbed a tight opening set with the only break in game 10 and would not let Nadal settle into his rhythm in the second.
Fognini levelled again at 5-5 thanks to a screaming forehand winner off a Nadal smash, and then forged into a 6-3 lead in the tie-break.
Nadal battled back to level at 6-6 but could not contain the errors when Fognini earned a fourth chance, and the Italian clinched a memorable win.
Top seed Kei Nishikori earlier beat Santiago Giraldo 6-2 6-1 in a repeat of last year’s final, while third seed David Ferrer beat Swede Elias Ymer 6-3 6-4.
