TENNIS – Italian star Fabio Fognini got his revenge against Grigor Dimitrov with a 7-6 (11-9) 4-6 6-0 win after losing their two previous matches in Monte-Carlo and Madrid to the delight of Rome fans who packed in the famous Nicola Pietrangeli Stadium. In the match of the day Fognini got through to the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time in his career in nine appearances. Diego Sampaolo
Fognini broke serve at 2-2 in the first set and pulled away to 4-2 but Dimitrov reeled off three games in a row to take a 5-4 lead. Fognini won the next game with a cross-court forehand. The first set came down to the tie-break where Fognini rallied from 0-2 to take a 6-4 lead. In a roller-coaster of emotions Dimitrov won three points in a row to take a 7-6 lead but he made a forehand error when he was leading 8-7. Fognini saved a set point at 9-8 before wrapping up a dramatic first set with 11-9.
Dimitrov fought back taking the break for 3-2 in the second set. Fognini drew level to 3-3 but Dimitrov broke in the ninth game to go up 5-4 before closing out the second set with 6-4 after one hour and 48 minutes.
Fognini recovered, taking a 2-0 lead in the decider with a break. He held serve in the third game before getting the double break for 4-0. With a score of 25 points to 10 Dimitrov completed his triumph with a bagel. Fognini will face Tomas Berdych in the third round.
“Finally Rome saw what I am able to do. It’s one of the best wins in my career. I will try to recover for tomorrow’s match against Tomas Berdych”, said Fognini.
Roger Federer won his second match in two weeks against Pablo Cuevas in the re-match of the recent Istanbul final with 7-6 (7-3) 6-4..
Federer earned a break point at 4-3 but he made a backhand error and Cuevas drew level to 4-4. Both players could not break and played once again a tie-break, but unlike the Istanbul final where Federer prevailed after a tight battle, the Swiss Maestro won this time with 7-3 to take the first set. Federer fought back from a mini-break down before pulling away to 6-3 and closed out with a forehand chop after 45 minutes.
Federer was solid on his serve and did not face any break points. He dropped just three points on his first serve. Federer earned two break point chances but Cuevas saved them for 1-0 at the start of the second set. The Swiss legend converted on the first of his two break point chances at 2-2. He served for the match at 5-4 and closed out In the next game.
Federer won 92 percent of his first serve points and hit 32 winners to 21 unforced errors.
Rafa Nadal, seven-time winner at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, cruised past Turkish player Marsel Ihlan (ATP World Number 87) with 6-2 6-0 in one hour and 14 minutes winning 92 percent of his first serve points and saving two break points he faced.
Nadal broke serve in the third game of the opening set before wasting four set points at 5-1. Nadal, who has dropped to World Number 7, cruised past Ilhan with a bagel
Nadal is looking to reach his 10th final in 11 appearances at one of his favourite tournaments. So far this season Nadal has won the Buenos Aires titles but has had a difficult season on European clay in which he reached his best result with the semifinal in Mont-Carlo,
“I said before the tournament. I feel in good shape and I played a good tournament in Madrid”, said Nadal.
In the third round Nadal will renew his rivaly against John Isner who hit 11 aces in his 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 win over Leonardo Mayer. The Spanish star leads 5-0 in their head-to-head matches, including his recent three-set win in Monte-Carlo.
“John is always difficult to beat. He is always very consistent with his serve. Monte-Carlo proved that he is a tough player”, said Nadal.
Third-seed Andy Murray beat Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-3 extending his winning streak on clay to 10 consecutive matches this season which included his first two clay titles in Munich and Madrid. The Dunblane star fended off two break points from 15-40 in the sixth game of the opening set but he broke serve in the seventh game en route to winning the first set with 6-4. The Scotsman got another break in the second set to clinch the second set with 6-3
Murray committeed 10 unforced errors to Chardy’s 26.
“My legs were a bit tired at the beginning then I started to feel better after the first few games. I felt like I played a really good match.
Murray set up a third round match against David Goffin who saved three match points to edge Jo Wilfred Tsonga with 6-2 4-6 7-5
Murray will be looking to improve his best result in Rome achieved in 2011 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Murray will be now coached by Swedish trainer and former tennis star Jonas Bjorkman while Amelie Mauresmo prepares for the birth of her first child.
“He is going to be with me after Wimbledon, just me and him through potentially right until the end of the year. Both of us are quite motivated to do that. I haven’t got to spend too much time with Jonas so far but it’s been a good start and I will try to keep it up”, said Murray.
Kei Nishikori overcame a tough match against Jiri Vesely with 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 after converting on three of his eight break points.
Nishikori made too many unforced errors and Vesely served for the first set at 5-3. The young Czech player wasted two chances for the double break. Nishikori saved the set point before breaking back to force the set to the tie-break. In an entertaing breaker Vesely got the mini-break with a lob but he committed a double fault and sent his backhand wide to go down 1-2. From 2-2 Nishikori reeled off five of his next six points to win the tie-break with 7-3. Nishikori got the decisive break in the 11th game for 6-5 to serve for the match He saved a break point in the next game before sealing the win on his third match point.
Nshikori will take on Viktor Troicki who fought back from a set down to edge past Feliciano Lopez with 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-3 after saving six of his seven break point chances.
Dominic Thiem. Who is making his debut in Rome after missing this tournament last year, was leading 7-6 (7-5) 2-0 against Giles Simon when the French player was forced to withdraw. At 2-2 Thiem break serve but Simon broke straight back. Both players traded breaks again at 5-5. The set came down to the ti-break where Simon built a 5-3 lead but made a forehand error. Thiem was solid on the most important points and closed out on the first set point. Simon called a mediacal time-out because of a neck injury at the start of the second set and withdrew a few minutes later
The young Austrian will be looking to reach his second Master 1000 quarter final of the year after Indian Wells against Stan Wawrinka. Thiem beat Wawrinka in their previous head-to-head match on Madrid clay last year.
Guillermo Garcia Lopez beat Aleksander Dolgopolov 6-4 6-3 continuing his good form on clay after his title in Bucharest and his semifinal at Estoril.
All the top eight seeds qualified for the third round matches which are scheduled on Thursday.
