Andy Murray's next Wimbledon opponent: Who is Fabio Fognini and could he win today's third round match?
We profile Fognini, the exciting Italian Murray must beat in the third round
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Your support makes all the difference.Fabio Fognini is temperamental and doesn’t have the best record on grass – and yet he is dangerous when underestimated. The enigmatic Italian will face Andy Murray in the third round at Wimbledon, hoping to pull one of the greatest upsets of this year’s Championships.
Married to former WTA No.1 Flavia Pentta, the 30-year-old Italian has not achieved as much as his wife during his career. He has never broken into the top 10 of the ATP rankings – peaking at No 13 in 2014 – and his best performance at a grand slam remain a run to the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2011.
But the Italian is a dangerous opponent. He is also an accomplished doubles player, winning the Australian Open in 2015 with his fellow Italian Simone Bolelli, and reaching the semi-finals of the US Open in 2011, and the French Open in 2015.
Murray knows the Italian well as Fognini has managed to upset Murray three times in his career, with the current head-to-head record between the two men locked at 3-3. The last time they played it was Fognini who triumphed, blowing the Scot off the court at the Rome Masters in an impressive 6-2 6-2 win.
In that match he hit a total of 31 winners on his favoured surface of clay, winning the first set in a positively breezy 40 minutes. He made barely any errors and smashed a large number of winners past the World No 1.
Most of those winners were off his mighty forehand, which is arguably his most dangerous weapon. He is quick on the court and excels at baseline play. However, his serve can lack power, with Murray likely to attack his second serve on Wednesday.
Theoretically at least, Fognini isn’t a terrible match-up for Murray, as the Scot is one of the finest defensive players in the game and is also an accomplished returner.
The surface should also work in Murray’s favour. All of Fognini’s victories over Murray have come on clay, while the Scot counts grass as his favourite surface. It will give him a considerable advantage on Wednesday.
Murray looks to have recovered from the hip injury he sustained in the build-up to the tournament and made light work of Dustin Brown in the previous round. The German was powerless against Murray and won just 14 points off his serve.
Murray’s consistency could frustrate Fognini, who is known to have something of a short temper. He is also prone to making silly mistakes and holds a record for the number of foot faults committed in a match.
Nevertheless, Fognini says he is ready for the third-round clash and his flair means he is definitely one to watch out for. To make sure of victory, Murray has to make sure he does not allow Fognini to dictate play, and must be wary of the Italian drop-shotting him in an attempt to punish his relative lack of match-fitness.
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