Fabio Fognini is playing for the final time at the Internazional BNL d’Italia and he will contest his first-round match against Jake Fearnley on Thursday. Joao Fonseca and Fabian Marozsan are also on the schedule.
Here are my picks for two of Thursday’s best matchups.
Fabian Marozsan vs. Joao Fonseca
Like many other traditional ATP-level players, Fonseca played in the Estoril Challenger last week after losing early in Madrid (7-6(7), 7-6(3) to Tommy Paul in the second round). The 18-year-old Brazilian exited Estoril immediately at the hands of Jesper de Jong via a 6-2, 7-5 decision, but perhaps that can be attributed to a relative lack of motivation. Fonseca loves the big stage and should be back in gear for the Rome Masters.
Up first for the Brazilian is Marozsan, who has a decent amount of of experience at this event. In fact, the Hungarian’s unofficial arrival on tour came in the form of a shocking third-round upset of Carlos Alcaraz at the Foro Italico in 2023. Fast forward two years, though, and now it is Fonseca who is the rising star whereas Marozsan seems to have plateaued a bit. I’ll back Fonseca’s firepower to get the best of Marozsan’s guile.
Pick: Fonseca in 2
Jake Fearnley vs. (WC) Fabio Fognini
It makes sense that this is Fognini’s last trip to Rome and presumably retirement is in the not-too-distant future. The 37-year-old Italian is outside the top 100 and has not won a main-draw match on the main tour this entire season. Fognini earned a few victories on the Challenger circuit and in ATP qualifying, but he hasn’t defeated anyone ranked better than No. 84 and he just lost to 396th-ranked Neil Oberleitner at the Mauthausen Challenger.
Fearnley is playing great in what is his first full ATP season.The former college star at TCU has already surged to No. 57 in the world thanks in part to a third-round performance as a qualifier in Madrid. Clay probably isn’t going to be Fearnley’s best surface throughout his pro career, but early returns on it are encouraging enough. There is always a chance that Fognini suddenly plays some inspired tennis in front of the home crowd, but there is an even better chance that he flames out without much of a fight.
Pick: Fearnley in 2
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.