Spirit of Rafa surfaces in Fabio Fognini's upset of Felix Auger-Aliassime

Talking Tennis with Tracy: Tips for the terre battue

Present. Absent. These two words came to mind following world No. 130 Fabio Fognini’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 first-round win at Roland Garros over 10th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Present describes Fognini’s wire-to-wire control of the match. Today’s upset was yet another example of what has long made him the personification of the term “dangerous floater.” With the precision and flair that can create a dazzling viewing experience, Fognini struck 30 winners.

Absent describes the snap, crackle and pop missing from Auger-Aliassime this afternoon inside Court Simonne-Mathieu. Plagued by a prior shoulder injury, hindered also by hamstring troubles and a stomach virus that triggered a mid-match doctor visit, Auger-Aliassime was noticeably listless. Following the loss of the first set, he went up 2-0 in the second, but was unable to consolidate that lead.

“I mean, I woke up this morning trying—I mean, it's like I've been struggling with a few things,” said Auger-Aliassime, “and it's like, can you believe it, I get sick the day before my match?”

This match was also flavored by another facet concurrently present and absent: Rafael Nadal. How does one determine the impact of someone missing? Perhaps best to determine how a champion’s fingerprints have left their traces—intriguingly and differently—for each of these players.

Though the record has shown that no tennis player has ever profoundly troubled Nadal, Fognini has had his moments. The two have played one another 18 times, Fognini winning four. That quartet includes three on clay and, most notably, a comeback victory from two sets to love down at the 2015 US Open. Even their most recent match, played at last year’s US Open, had its share of drama. Beginning late on a Thursday night, Fognini won the first set, 6-2, and went up 4-2 in the second. Eventually, Nadal turned it around, past midnight winning the last three sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

“For more than one hour and a half, I was not competing,” said Nadal. “One of the worst starts, probably, ever.”

Give a good deal of the credit that, though, to Fognini. For Fognini’s high-quality tennis can mesmerize anyone, a magical blend of consistency and relaxation, capped off by winners hit from and to anywhere on the court. Grind? Please, why is that necessary when one has such a wide palette? Why hurry when it’s easy to just arrive at the ball and exercise one of many options?

From drop shots and angles to stabbed volleys and liquid-smooth placements, so much of Fognini’s artistry was present today versus Auger-Aliassime. Even if the Canadian was not at his best physically, it can often be unsettling to beat an injured opponent. Rush him off the court or keep the ball in play? Await errors or press the advantage?

“I'm happy because he is a great champion, even if I was thinking that he was not 100 percent,” said Fognini “but once a champion like that retires in a tournament before playing a Grand Slam, he's going to play anyways, with pain or without pain.”

A slight hiccup for Fognini came in the third set. Serving at 3-0 love, he played two sloppy games. But from 3-2 on, Fognini was buttoned-up. In his subsequent service games, he dropped just one point on serve and, on his first match point, capped off the win with Nadal’s trademark shot, an untouchable crosscourt forehand.

If Nadal’s aura hung over Fognini in the form of their shared history, the Rafa reach is even more near at hand for Auger-Aliassime. For the last two years, Nadal’s longstanding coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, has been part of Auger-Aliassime’s coaching team, working alongside Frederic Fontang. The Toni-Rafael relationship is worthy of book-length studies, not just for the ball-striking and tactics but, even more, how this philosophical uncle formed his nephew’s approach to sportsmanship, competition, the way a game fits into a life—and how those values powerfully shaped one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen. Who wouldn’t want to draw on those many lessons?

Inside the lines, Toni has been there to closely witness Auger-Aliassime’s ascent into the Top 10. But not always that close. Last year at Roland Garros, Auger-Aliassime won three matches to earn the chance to play Nadal in the round of 16. Toni, with all due respect for his player but even more, love for a family member, opted to watch that match from a neutral position. Addressing that earlier this year, Auger-Aliassime said, “it didn’t bother me in any way.”

Auger-Aliassime versus Nadal turned out to be a near-classic. Pushing Nadal to five sets at Roland Garros for only the third time, Auger-Aliassime fought superbly for four hours and 21 minutes before losing, 6-3 in the fifth. “He raised his level when he needed to,” said Auger-Aliassime.

Alas, at two hours and 17 minutes, Fognini versus Auger-Aliassime lasted just over half as long. Music intermittently echoed throughout Court Simonne Mathieu on changeovers of this match. Near the end of the first set, the instrumental sounds of this song were heard: “Those Were the Days.” A few selected lyrics:

• “Those were the days, my friend/We thought they'd never end/We'd sing and dance forever and a day/We'd live the life we choose/We'd fight and never lose.”

But if Auger-Aliassime’s exit from Roland Garros a year ago could be viewed as a moral victory of sorts on the growth path of a youthful contender, today’s first-round exit is certainly a disappointment, both physically and emotionally. Injuries have plagued Auger-Aliassime all spring: knee, shoulder, hamstring, and now stomach.

“I can't expect things to get back to normal without doing something differently or without changing something,” he said. “So it's going to push me and my team to see what we have to adjust so I can get back into good shape.”

Here too, the 22-year-old Auger-Aliassime likely stands to gain much from Toni, who of course from his many years with Rafa well understands how overcoming physical setbacks can translate into wisdom and arguably even serve as a catalyst. For if the notion that suffering can be redemptive is valid, who in tennis knows that better than Rafa and Toni?

But as Roland Garros ’23 progresses into the second round, with the 36-year-old Nadal not in Paris this year, shine the spotlight on Fognini, another man of the same age who just won his 25th match at Roland Garros.

More from “Those Were the Days”: “For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same.”