At the start of the Masters in Rome, Thiem occasionally flashed his class and even got his Italian counterpart into trouble several times.
When the score was 2-1 from his point of view, however, he missed two breakballs and left the momentum to Fognini, who had the audience on his side. A little later, after the first break of the game, the Italian won the first round (6:4) to make it 5:4.
In the second set, Thiem initially braced himself against the impending defeat and, from his point of view, fended off Fognini’s first match point when the score was 4: 5. In the end, however, Thiem lost out in the tie-break (5:7) and had to give up again in round one.
ATP Rom
Scandal at the start: Shapovalov mobs fans in Rome
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Curious: The number 162 in the world celebrated his last victory on the ATP tour almost exactly a year ago in Rome. At that time he moved into the round of 16 against Marton Fucsovics. The native of Lower Austria is currently a long way from that. Next week, Thiem would like to start the trend reversal at the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva in order to get back on the road to success at the French Open if possible.
Fognini meets the winner of the game between Pedro Martinez and Jannik Sinner in the round of 32.
Wawrinka celebrates first win in 15 months
Stan Wawrinka, on the other hand, was able to achieve a long-awaited success. The Swiss managed his first victory on the ATP tour in 15 months against Reilly Opelka, who is number 17 in the world rankings.
The 37-year-old beat the American 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Wawrinka meets Laslo Djere (Serbia) on Wednesday.
First win in 15 months: Wawrinka knocks out top 20 players
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