An improbable Monte-Carlo final pits Fabio Fognini against Dusan Lajovic on Sunday afternoon. Fognini stunned Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, while Lajovic did not drop a single set en route to his first career ATP final.
The Monte-Carlo Masters has been under the firm control of Rafael Nadal for more than a decade, but on Saturday the Spaniard was upended in straight sets by Fabio Fognini. There will be a brand new Monte-Carlo champion this year: Fognini or world No. 48 Dusan Lajovic.
Lajovic has had a fantastic run this week. The Serb hasn’t dropped a set, though he played three seeded players en route to the final–including 2018 French Open finalist Dominic Thiem, Belgian David Goffin, and Daniil Medvedev (who dispatched Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals). Except for Nadal’s lackluster performance in the semifinals, Lajovic has been the surprise of the tournament thus far.
Fognini came into Monte-Carlo off a positively miserable start to the year. The Italian had a 4-8 start to the season–and now he has beaten Nadal at one of his most successful events. He had actually beaten Nadal on clay twice before, including back in 2015 in Barcelona, so he had already proven to himself that he could do it.
Lajovic and Fognini have never played each other. The Italian is ranked higher at No. 18 in the world, but Lajovic has actually been more impressive this week. Although Fognini will have had the boost of having beaten Nadal, it should be Lajovic in for his first-ever ATP title.
Cheryl pick: Lajovic in 2
Ricky pick: Lajovic in 3
[polldaddy poll=10299713]
Congrats, Fabio! He kept his head and played steady when he needed to. Didn’t get down once again after a first set break. Not a high quality match, and Lajovic really didn’t play that well, but he must have been understandably nervous. Well done to Fognini; would love to see him more in the late end of tournaments.