Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini Leading Italy to Prominence on Men's Tennis Tour

In a year when Sara Errani has made a Grand Slam final and, alongside her countrywoman Roberta Vinci, dominated in doubles, Italy's achievements have not gone unnoticed on the WTA Tour.

But who says the women should have all the fun?

Italian men are also making an impact, and that's been in full evidence this week as Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini will be playing in finals in Metz, France, and St. Petersburg, Russia, respectively.

Seppi will be going for his second title in 2012—having won in Belgrade during the clay-court stretch—and the third of his career. Fognini, who has never won an ATP World Tour singles title, will be contesting his second final of the year—and of his career—as he tries to become the ATP's first debut winner in 2012.

It's not simply a matter of the stars aligning that both are in finals this week as the past year and a half has seen them each notch their best results and hit ranking highs.

Seppi is currently at No. 28 in the standings, having reached a career-best 24 in the early summer. Over the clay-court stretch, aside from winning the Belgrade event, Seppi made the quarterfinals at the Masters 1000 event in Rome and the Round of 16 at the French Open, where he led world No. 2 Novak Djokovic two sets to love before losing.

Seppi isn't a clay-court specialist; his first career singles title was won on the grass in Eastbourne, England, in 2011 and this year he made the finals, losing to Andy Roddick.

Fognini is also versatile, as seen by his results this week on indoor hard courts. His best results, though, have come on clay: In 2011, he reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and the final he reached this year came in Bucharest.

Seppi and Fognini, Italy's two highest-ranked male players, are in front of a nation that's showing a lot of depth on the men's side: Currently, a total of six Italians are ranked in the top 85. That's a solid showing by anyone's measures.

So while they haven't reached the Slam finals like Errani or Francesca Schiavone, the men are acquitting themselves quite nicely.