Fognini squeezes out alpine win

Fabio Fognini saved two match points in the second set and needed two of his own in the closing stages to earn a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 comeback victory over Juan Pablo Varillas  on Wednesday at the Gstaad Open.

The colourful Italian moved into the quarter-finals at the event where he won the title seven years ago.

The 37-year-old ranked 80th exited here in the first round a year ago.

The seventh seed rose to the occasion as his Peruvian opponent served for a straight-sets victory leading 5-4 in the second.

But instead of following the script, Fognini fought off two match points for 5-all, then levelled the match with a successful tiebreaker.

He started the final set with a break but lost it in the eighth game, 4-all

Fognini broke for a second time to lead 6-5 and closed out the win moments later.

“I was not feeling the ball very well, but you try to do your best,” the winner said. “I won a battle to get to another round.”

Fognini said Varillas seemed to lose power in the later stages: “After I won the second, he seemed to be a bit tired

“He was pushing the ball in the last two sets.”

Fognini, former Masters 1000 winner in Monte Carlo, will be playing in his  76th quarter-final and his 51st on clay.