Italian Fabio Fognini has troubled the greatest of players on a clay court. Fognini has beaten Rafael Nadal twice, and pushed the Spaniard to three sets earlier this month in Rome. Italy's No. 1, though, hasn't let the close call at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia slow him down. The 18th seed is through to the third round at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year. Fognini sat down with ATPWorldTour.com to talk about his "ATP Firsts." First pinch-me moment on the ATP World Tour [In 2006], I was playing qualies at Buenos Aires, and I made it through the main draw and I was playing [Carlos] Moya and I lost 6-4 in the third, and then he won the tournament....
Following his second-round win at Roland Garros (d. Giraldo 6-4, 7-5, 6-3), Roberto Bautista Agut didn't avoid the media. He also didn't dodge questions about his mother who passed away on 21 May, or the toll it's taken on him at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is set to play 20th seed Novak Djokovic for a place in the fourth round. "Honestly, being here helps take my mind off everything that's happened over the past several days. I'd rather be playing here at Roland Garros than sulking at home," Bautista Agut said. "I need to keep pushing on. Tennis is my life, these tournaments are my life. As soon as I was able, I got back to my usual routine and...
Fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares defeated Dusan Lajovic and Florian Mayer 6-1, 7-5 in the Roland Garros first round on Thursday. The British-Brazilian team now play South Americans Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry. Third seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers needed just 42 minutes to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mirza Basic and Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-2 for a place in the third round. Kontinen and Peers, who have a 10-1 record in tour-level finals, including the 2017 Australian Open (d. Bryan-Bryan) and 2016-17 Nitto ATP Finals, lost just six of their service points. They will next play Italians Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi, who ousted British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Wesley Koolhof and...
It was like dêjà vu for Juan Martin del Potro at Roland Garros on Thursday. For the second time in three days, he was competing in front of an energetic Parisian crowd that was cheering on a home favourite. There was something else that remained the same: Del Potro came out on top. The No. 5 seed moved past Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the third round on the terre battue for the second consecutive year. Previously, the Argentine had not competed at the French Grand Slam since 2012. "I feel better than in the first round. I was able to make more winners, to run better," Del Potro said. "The level of my game was a...
Jaume Munar's time at Roland Garros might be over, but he leaves Paris having learned some invaluable lessons. The #NextGenATP Spaniard earned his first victory at a Grand Slam by defeating David Ferrer 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 in the first round before losing to Novak Djokovic 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 in the next round. Both matches served as proving grounds for the 21-year-old and helped raise his self-confidence. Munar broke down five things he learned during his time at Roland Garros. 1. A Step Forward From my first qualifying match here (d. Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3) through Wednesday, I've made strides and I'm happy with my progress. I know I wasn't at my best against Novak but I also didn't play...