Andy Murray suffered a frustrating defeat to Fabio Fognini in the first round of the Italian Open in a bitter blow to his hopes of clinching a seeded spot for Wimbledon. Murray, fresh off the back of his Challenger title win in Aix-en-Provence, was back in action at the Italian Open with a difficult draw starting with old foe Fognini.
Both 35 years of age, Murray and Fognini’s rivalry dates back to their teenage years and their last encounter back in 2019 provided plenty of fireworks. And tempers flared once again on the court on this occasion, although the anger was between Murray and umpire Mohamed Lahyani in a close first set.
Murray threatened a comeback after winning the second set with Fognini seemingly struggling with something and calling for the doctor. But Murray still didn’t look near his best with Fognini taking full advantage with an early break in the third set and holding firm to pull off an impressive victory.
The three-time major champion couldn’t find his rhythm against a determined Fognini in the first set, although it looked to be one-way traffic at the start of the second. Murray raced to a 4-0 lead, but soon allowed Fognini back into it as the Italian crowd got behind the home favourite.
Fognini eventually did all the hard work to pull the set back to level pegging on serve, only to let that go to waste the following game as Murray forced a deciding set. But the Italian was able to rally back to start the third set in perfect fashion by breaking his opponent immediately.
From there, Fognini only grew in confidence while Murray showed signs that his efforts from last week were taking their toll on him. The British superstar was holding his back on occasion in between points while Fognini was unrelenting in getting the job done.
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