Italy leads 2-1 over Russia after this year’s Australian Open champions Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli edged Evgeny Donskoy and Konstantin Kravchuk with 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2) in a hard-fought match in the Bajkal Indoor Arena in Irkusk, a Siberian city. Fognini and Bolelli did not play their best match especially when they trailed 1-5 in the second set and were broken back at 5-3 in the third set but they won the most decisive points.
While Fognini and Bolelli won their first Grand Sland title last January and are one of the best doubles teams on the circuit, Donskoy and Kravchuk played together for the second time in the Davis Cup after their win over Lopez and Marrero in the match between Russia and Spain in Vladivostok last July.
The first set did not feature any breaks in the first 11 games and looked to be heading to an inevitable tie-break until Fognini capitalized on the first break point chance in the 12th game with a backhand down the line at 6-5 to give the Italian team a 7-5 win.
In the second set the Russian team got a double break to cruise to a 5-1 lead. Donskoy served out to wrap up the second set with 6-2.
In the third set Fognini wasted a 40-15 lead at 3-3 but he did not face any break points and held his serve at deuce. The third set went on serve until the 8th game when Italy broke serve for 5-3 as Kravchuk hit a volley into the net. Bolelli served for the set but Kravchuk broke straight back with a backhand passing shot. The third set came down to the tie-break where Italy opened up a 6-3 lead and earned three set points. Kravchuk saved the first two opportunities but Bolelli sealed the third set with 7-5 with an ace
Russia got an early break on the fourth break point in the fourth set and opened up a 4-1 lead. As the fifth set loomed Donskoy dropped serve in the seventh game allowing Italy to claw their way back into the set for 3-4. Bolelli won the third consecutive game for the Italian team which draw level to 4-4
The home team earned a set point at 5-4 40-30 but Bolelli saved it with a volley. The fourth set came to the tie-break where Italy went up 5-2 before clinching the win on the first of three match points as Donskoy hit a backhand volley into the net.
Fognini will take on Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first Sunday’s match where Italy will need one point to stay in the Davis Cup World Group in 2016.
“Fabio played so well today on both his serve and at the net. I think we played better than them in the key points but it was very tough”, said Bolelli
