Hamburg Open 2020: Fabio Fognini vs Philipp Kohlschreiber preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: Fabio Fognini vs Philipp Kohlschreiber

Date: 22 September 2020

Tournament: Hamburg European Open 2020

Round: First round (Round of 32)

Venue: Hamburg, Germany

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: €1,062,520

Match timing: Approx. 2 pm CEST, 5.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | India - Sony Six

Fabio Fognini vs Philipp Kohlschreiber preview

Veterans of the ATP tour Fabio Fognini and Philipp Kohlschreiber will square off against each other in the opening round of the 2020 Hamburg Open on Tuesday. They will both be aiming to make amends for what has been a horrendous phase since the resumption of the tour.

Philipp Kohlschreiber lost in the opening rounds of both the US Open and Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel. To make matters worse, the German exited in the second round of the Challenger event in Prague, although that was due to injury.

Philipp Kohlschreiber

Regardless, the German will want to start Hamburg on a positive note and reinforce his credentials on clay. Kohlschreiber has competed in 12 clay-court finals, winning half of them - a statistic that highlights his quality on the surface.

Fabio Fognini has not fared well either; the Italian was sent packing in the first round in both Kitzbuhel and Rome. His loss in the former tournament was especially surprising as he lost to 303rd-ranked Marc-Andrea Huesler in straight sets.

The sixth seed is widely regarded as a clay-court specialist though, and has a considerable amount of success on the surface - including a Masters title at Monte Carlo last year.

Fabio Fognini vs Philipp Kohlschreiber head-to-head

Fabio Fognini trails by 7-2 in the H2H

Philipp Kohlschreiber leads Fabio Fognini 7-2 in the head-to-head rivalry.

They have played five times on clay with the German leading 4-1 on the surface. Kohlschreiber has also won their last three matches, that too in straight sets.

Fabio Fognini vs Philipp Kohlschreiber prediction

Philipp Kohlschreiber

Fabio Fognini and Philipp Kohlschreiber are equally solid players off both wings. That is why we can expect a lot of long rallies from the baseline in this match.

Kohlschreiber, however, has greater variety on his backhand which could help him to move Fognini around. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Italian though, as he is known for his foot speed.

Neither player boasts a very strong serve, and both will rely on their groundstrokes to win them points.

That said, Fognini does have the tendency to be more temperamental and to gift away freebies by committing unforced errors. And Kohlschreiber is certainly capable of capitalizing on that, as evidenced in his dominant head-to-head record.

Prediction: Philipp Kohlschreiber to win in three sets.