“Fognini upsets 30th seed Kecmanovic after Murray’s victory at the Internazionali d’Italia”

Fognini capopopolo on a packed Pietrangeli, with a stadium climate. What a match, what a victory: after beating Andy Murray in the first round, Fabio eliminates Miomir Kecmanovic – seeded number 30 – playing a vintage match, pushed by the Italian crowd. The tennis player from Sanremo beats his opponent in two sets, 6-3 7-6: now he will face Holger Rune, who had no problems against Arthur Fils (6-3 6-3). Victory in two partials also for Novak Djokovic, who will face Dimitrov.

THE MATCH – We play in perfect weather: not excessive heat, full fans. There’s a bit of wind, which bothers Fognini especially in the second set. Also attending the match is Matteo Arnaldi, who will play tomorrow evening at the Central against Lorenzo Musetti. Fognini starts very well: break in the opening, in the first game of the match. Fabio is good at keeping the lead for the entire set and closing with a flat 6-3, breaking Kecmanovic’s serve once again in the last game. In the second set the match is balanced, even if it is always Fognini who has the chances: in three consecutive games in response, Fabio has a break point but does not exploit it. This brings us to the tie break, in which Pietrangeli – after the Italian’s double fault in the first point – pushes Fognini and rejoices with him. The Sanremo player does not take advantage of the first three match points, he closes on the fourth attempt. After the match point, we celebrate like after a goal: in Rome it’s still the Fognini show.

DJOKOVIC OK – A first set of settlement, the second downhill. Script already seen, the one with which Novak Djokovic beats the Argentine Thomas Etcheverry on his debut in this edition of the Internazionali d’Italia. Under the eyes of José Mourinho, Nole overcomes a difficult player on clay: the Serbian finds himself down by a break at the start, manages to bring the set to the tie break – with a few grimaces of pain and repeated stretching of his right leg – and to close with the usual class, leveling up in response at decisive moments. In the second set he loosens up and takes the match home: 7-6 6-3. Nole’s opponent in the third round will be Grigor Dimitrov: the Bulgarian won in two sets against Stan Wawrinka. In the other matches of the day, Korda’s defeat against Safiullin and Bublik’s victory in three sets against Ben Shelton, who had trained with Francesco Passaro in the morning, should be noted.