Andy Murray
Fabio Fognini Stops No. 1 Andy Murray in Rome Second Round
(May 16, 2017) World No.1 Andy Murray will head into the French Open with few clay court wins under his belt. The three-time major winner and defending champion lost No. 29 Fabio Fognini of Italy in the second round of the Rome Masters 6-2, 6-4 much to the delight of local fans. Since winning the Dubai title in February, Murray is 5-6.
Fognini was fearless, hitting 22 winners to only four errors.
“I’m sure there were a lot of things I could have done better,” Murray said to media. “Obviously he started the match extremely well, for sure, and then, you know, mid to end part of the second set, you know, there were a few opportunities there.
“But, yeah, he was — you know, he was taking the ball early, you know, hitting the ball close to the lines and dominating most of the points.
“And then second set, you know, towards the end he starts making a few more mistakes. I was getting into it a little bit, but I wasn’t doing enough to — you know, I wasn’t creating enough chances on my own. You know, normally during matches your opponent might give you a few opportunities with some errors, and obviously you hope to create a few yourself.
“That certainly wasn’t the case today. The only chance I really got was when he was making errors.”
“Definitely movement the last two weeks has not been good,” Murray continued. “I felt like I moved decent in — you know, in the beginning of the year I was moving well. I moved pretty well in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, but the last two weeks I haven’t moved well.
“You know, Fabio did play some good dropshots, but like you say, I wasn’t actually making a move or a step towards the ball.
“You know, that’s not a good sign, so that’s something, like I said, the last two years on the clay, that’s been a huge improvement for me. My movement has been a big help, you know, last couple of years, but certainly the last couple of weeks that’s been a problem. So I need to address that.”
No. 2 Novak Djokovic beat British qualifier Aljaz Bedene 7-6 (2), 6-2.
“Bedene is the kind of player that gives you good rhythm,” noted the Serb. “I had some good exchanges, some good games with rallies and it felt right, especially in the second set.
“Tiebreak I played a great tiebreak. Served very well when I needed to. I just — you know, I just wish that I had started a little bit sharper. But hopefully the next one will be good.”
A couple of ATP World Tour milestones from Tuesday – David Ferrer notched his 700th career match win on the tour while Tomas Berdych won his 600th.
INTERNAZIONALI BNL D’ITALIA – ROME, ITALY
RESULTS – MAY 16, 2017
Men’s
Singles – Second Round
F. Fognini (ITA) d [1] A. Murray (GBR) 62 64
[2] N. Djokovic (SRB) d [Q] A. Bedene (GBR) 76(2) 62
[6] M. Cilic (CRO) d R. Harrison (USA) 63 62
[9] D. Goffin (BEL) d F. Verdasco (ESP) 36 63 62
[12] T. Berdych (CZE) d [Q] C. Berlocq (ARG) 63 64
J. Isner (USA) d F. Mayer (GER) 76(4) 76(4)
Men’s
Singles – First Round
[13] J. Sock (USA) d D. Schwartzman (ARG) 64 16 75
[15] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) d G. Simon (FRA) 63 63
[16] A. Zverev (GER) d [Q] K. Anderson (RSA) 64 46 64
[PR] T. Haas (GER) d [LL] E. Escobedo (USA) 60 46 76(1)
B. Paire (FRA) d N. Mahut (FRA) 63 64
P. Cuevas (URU) d [Q] A. Mannarino (FRA) 64 76(2)
D. Ferrer (ESP) d F. Lopez (ESP) 46 63 61
R. Bautista Agut (ESP) d *[LL] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) 64 62
Men’s
Doubles – First Round
N. Mektic (CRO) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d [WC] F. Gaio (ITA) / S. Napolitano (ITA) 76(3) 63
R. Bopanna (IND) / P. Cuevas (URU) d [WC] S. Bolelli (ITA) / A. Seppi (ITA) 64 62
B. Baker (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d J. del Potro (ARG) / M. Matkowski (POL) 36 75 10-5
*[LL] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) replaced N. Kyrgios (AUS) – hip
Women’s
Singles – Second Round
[5] J. Konta (GBR) d Y. Putintseva (KAZ) 63 60
[7] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) d K. Siniakova (CZE) 61 76(3)
[16] M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) d [WC] M. Sharapova (RUS) 64 36 12 Retired – left thigh injury
First Round
[Q] D. Gavrilova (AUS) d [10] M. Keys (USA) 26 75 75
J. Goerges (GER) d [13] K. Mladenovic (FRA) 76(6) 75
[15] K. Bertens (NED) d M. Niculescu (ROU) 26 62 61
[Q] A. Kontaveit (EST) d [Q] A. Petkovic (GER) 63 64
A. Sevastova (LAT) d I. Begu (ROU) 64 64
E. Makarova (RUS) d R. Vinci (ITA) 62 61
[Q] C. Bellis (USA) d M. Doi (JPN) 64 76(6)
[Q] J. Ostapenko (LAT) d S. Rogers (USA) 63 64
T. Bacsinszky (SUI) d T. Babos (HUN) 62 62
L. Davis (USA) d C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) 62 57 63
Women’s
Doubles – First Round
B. Krejcikova (CZE) / S. Zheng (CHN) d [5] K. Pliskova (CZE) / B. Strycova (CZE) 06 64 10-8
[PR] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP) d D. Gavrilova (AUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 36 64 11-9
[WC] J. Jankovic (SRB) / A. Petkovic (GER) d [WC] D. Chiesa (ITA) / S. Rubini (ITA) 75 62
[Alt] O. Savchuk (UKR) / E. Svitolina (UKR) d S. Aoyama (JPN) / C. Liang (CHN) 64 62
E. Hozumi (JPN) / M. Kato (JPN) d S. Stosur (AUS) / S. Zhang (CHN) 62 64
ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017
CENTRALE start 12:00 noon
ATP – [7] K. Nishikori (JPN) vs D. Ferrer (ESP)
ATP – [Q] N. Almagro (ESP) vs [4] R. Nadal (ESP)
WTA – [1] A. Kerber (GER) vs [Q] A. Kontaveit (EST)
Not Before 7:30 pm
ATP – [3] S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs B. Paire (FRA)
Not Before 9:00 pm
WTA – [Q] J. Ostapenko (LAT) vs [3] G. Muguruza (ESP)
NEXT GEN ARENA start 11:00 am
WTA – [8] E. Svitolina (UKR) vs A. Cornet (FRA)
Not Before 12:00 noon
ATP – K. Edmund (GBR) vs J. del Potro (ARG)
WTA – L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs [9] V. Williams (USA)
ATP – [8] D. Thiem (AUT) vs P. Cuevas (URU)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [Q] J. Struff (GER) vs S. Querrey (USA)
PIETRANGELI start 11:00 am
WTA – L. Siegemund (GER) vs [6] S. Halep (ROU)
WTA – L. Davis (USA) vs [2] K. Pliskova (CZE)
ATP – V. Troicki (SRB) vs [16] A. Zverev (GER)
ATP – [PR] T. Haas (GER) vs [5] M. Raonic (CAN)
Not Before 5:00 pm
WTA – [4] D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs E. Makarova (RUS)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
WTA – [Q] C. Bellis (USA) vs [15] K. Bertens (NED)
WTA – [Q] D. Gavrilova (AUS) vs C. Garcia (FRA)
ATP – [13] J. Sock (USA) vs J. Vesely (CZE)
ATP – [15] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) vs R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
ATP – [3] J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA) vs J. Isner (USA) / J. Sock (USA)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
WTA – [Q] M. Barthel (GER) vs [Q] Q. Wang (CHN)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – J. Goerges (GER) vs J. Jankovic (SRB)
WTA – [14] B. Strycova (CZE) vs T. Bacsinszky (SUI)
ATP – N. Mektic (CRO) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs [8] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Granollers (ESP)
WTA – [4] T. Babos (HUN) / A. Hlavackova (CZE) vs [PR] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP)
COURT 4 start 11:00 am
WTA – [WC] S. Errani (ITA) / M. Trevisan (ITA) vs C. Mchale (USA) / M. Niculescu (ROU)
WTA – [12] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs A. Sevastova (LAT)
ATP – J. Sousa (POR) / F. Verdasco (ESP) vs D. Nestor (CAN) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
WTA – N. Hibino (JPN) / A. Rosolska (POL) vs [2] Y. Chan (TPE) / M. Hingis (SUI)
COURT 6 start 12:00 noon
ATP – O. Marach (AUT) / M. Pavic (CRO) vs [Alt] T. Huey (PHI) / M. Venus (NZL)
WTA – S. Kuznetsova (RUS) / K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs A. Groenefeld (GER) / K. Peschke (CZE)
WTA – After Suitable Rest – D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) vs K. Bertens (NED) / J. Goerges (GER)
COURT 3 start 1:00 pm
WTA – K. Bondarenko (UKR) / K. Siniakova (CZE) vs [7] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / Y. Xu (CHN)
WTA – After Suitable Rest – [Alt] O. Savchuk (UKR) / E. Svitolina (UKR) vs [3] S. Mirza (IND) / Y. Shvedova (KAZ)