Fabio Fognini, fueled by the support of fervent Italians at the Foro Italico, caused a major upset on Wednesday in beating one of the ATP World Tour’s best clay talents, sixth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Fognini, just two days on from the 300th match win of his career, defeated last year’s semi-finalist 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in two hours and five minutes for a place in the third round – for the third time in four years. This year's Brasil Open champion, who is 19-10 in 2018, will now prepare to face Germany's Peter Gojowczyk on Thursday. Fognini won three of the first four games, then, after being broken to 15 at 4-3, the Italian played smart...
David Goffin needed three sets to beat Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Tuesday. Goffin dropped six consecutive games from 5-1 in the opening set to trail the Gazprom Hungarian Open champion (d. Millman), but recovered well, winning 12 of the next 14 games to advance after two hours and four minutes. The World No. 10 improves both his record in the Italian capital, and his record on clay this season, to 8-3. In front of a packed crowd on Court Pietrangeli, Goffin began the match in top form. The 27-year-old broke in the first game with a successful foray into the net and appeared to be cruising as he attempted to convert set...
Denis Shapovalov will become the Canadian No. 1 on Monday, when he officially passes Milos Raonic in the ATP Rankings, after a comeback first-round win over No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Shapovalov was outplayed initially on Tuesday, but began to find his forehand range towards the end of the first set of a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over the vastly experienced Berdych, who was denied his 20th match win at the Foro Italico. News of Shapovalov becoming the No. 1 Canadian surprised the 19-year-old, who said he had no idea the honour was on line during his match with Berdych. “I'm a little bit in shock,” he said. “It's definitely happened...
Lucas Pouille ended a three-match losing streak on Tuesday, defeating home favourite Andreas Seppi 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. In a clash delayed by almost three hours due to rain, the 24-year-old, who suffered opening-match defeats in Monte-Carlo, Budapest and Madrid, hit seven aces and won 75 per cent of first-serve points to clinch victory in just over two hours. The Open Sud de France champion (d. Gasquet) broke serve in the first game of the match with two pinpoint forehand winners down the line, before cruising to a one-set lead after 28 minutes. But Seppi rallied well, securing the only break of the second set to force a decider, which he led by a break at...
Italy’s Fabio Fognini clinched his 300th tour-level singles win on Monday, defeating Gael Monfils, for the fourth time in eight FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes, 6-3, 6-1 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The World No. 21 snapped a three-match losing streak in front of his home crowd to reach the milestone, hitting 14 forehand winners and winning 89 per cent of first-serve points to beat the Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion (d. Rublev) in 53 minutes. Fognini has now beaten Monfils in three of their five meetings on the red dirt and improves to 10-6 on clay this season. Earlier this year, Fognini won his sixth ATP World Tour title (all on clay) in Sao Paulo, defeating Chilean Nicolas Jarry in three sets. Both...
