Fabio Fognini Thinks Achieving Great Result in Grand Slam is Easier Now

Fabio Fognini called time on his career after his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the first round of the 2025 Wimbledon.

Fabio Fognini Thinks Achieving Great Result in Grand Slam is Easier Now

Fabio Fognini (via Inside Tennis)

In Short
  • Fabio Fognini believes the current generation of players has more opportunities to achieve great results in Grand Slams compared to his era.
  • Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated men's tennis, winning the last nine Grand Slam titles.
  • Fognini's career ended after losing to Alcaraz at the 2025 Wimbledon, marking his third defeat against the young star.

Fabio Fognini played the majority of his career in the era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Only the Serb now remains from this legendary trio, who is still competing for Majors and is challenging the youngsters.

At the moment, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have established a duopoly on the men’s tour since the 2024 season. They have won the last nine Grand Slam titles, with the most recent being this year’s Australian Open, won by the 22-year-old with a four-set win over Djokovic.

Fognini met Sincaraz as well as the Big 3 in his career, which ended after his 2025 Wimbledon exit. He recently featured in an exhibition event at the Tenerife Challenger, during which he sat for an interview with MEF Tennis Events and shared his thoughts on whether the current generation is more competitive than the previous one.

On a personal level, I couldn’t give more. I was always aware that I was a good top 10, but I had to play against very strong people. Making a Grand Slam semifinal was possible, perhaps several times, although winning a Grand Slam was anyone’s dream. Of course, you had to be aware that ahead were Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, [Andy] Murray, [Stan] Wawrinka, [Juan Carlos] Ferrero, [David] Ferrer, [Tomas] Berdych, [Milos] Raonic, and many more. Now times have changed, today you have more chances to make a great result in a Grand Slam, but making comparisons is useless.

Fognini, who hung up his racket after lifting nine singles titles and one Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance, lost six matches he played against Federer. He won four out of the 18 matches he played against the 14-time French Open champion. Fognini lost his eight matches against Djokovic.

Fabio Fognini predicts how many Grand Slam titles Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will win

The opponent who ended Fognini’s career at the 2025 Wimbledon was Alcaraz. In a thrilling first-round meeting, the 38-year-old took two sets off the eventual runner-up but eventually lost. It was the third time Fognini suffered defeat at the hands of the Spaniard in the same number of matches they played.

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (4)
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

Fognini met his compatriot Sinner once and lost. During that aforementioned interview with MEF Tennis Events, Fognini was asked to predict how many Grand Slam titles the World No.1 and the World No.2 will win in their careers.

I was unlucky to play against them. With Jannik, I lost once, and with Carlos two or three times. You could see that they were predestined to be there. They are two born workers, two players completely different from the others, and with many years of career ahead of them. I’m very curious to see if they appear third so that I can put a stick in the wheel.

At present, the Indian Wells is underway. Alcaraz, the two-time champion, crashed out with a straight-set defeat to Daniil Medvedev, which ended his 16-match winning streak. Before Indian Wells, Alcaraz lifted the Australian Open by defeating Djokovic, and later added the Qatar Open to his trophy cabinet by defeating Arthur Fils.

Sinner, who will play Medvedev in the Indian Wells final, has yet to win a title this year. The four-time Grand Slam champion couldn’t complete his three-peat at the Australian Open due to his five-set defeat in the semifinal to Djokovic. He later lost the Qatar Open quarterfinal to Jakub Mensik, which marked the first time Sinner lost two back-to-back events without reaching the final.

At Indian Wells, the South Tyrol native reached two semifinals prior to this year (in 2023 and 2024). He skipped the event last year because of his doping ban.

Also read: Aryna Sabalenka Admits Being ‘Fed Up Of Losing Finals’ Recently Ahead of Indian Wells Title Match