Veterans shine at Italian Open as Fognini beats Murray; Wawrinka advances

Fabio Fognini edged fellow 35yearold Andy Murray in a nearly threehour battle in the opening round of the Italian OpenGiven a wild card entry after a month out with an injured foot Fognini hit more than twice as many winners as Murray 4924 in a 64 46 64 win on Campo CentraleMurray was coming off his first title in three years after he won an ATP Challenger event in southern France over the weekend for his first tournament victory since 2019 and first on clay since 2016Also ReadRafael Nadal missing Roland Garros would be brutal for tennis says Roger FedererBut Fogninis crafty shotmaking proved the difference as the Italian produced a series of dropshot winners that were so effective Murray didnt even attempt to run them downMurray was also left fuming after protesting a linesmans call late in the first set which gave Fognini a 53 advantage Murray pointed to the mark on the red clay and told the chair umpire that it was clearly outHow can you see that ball from there being in How is it possible Murray said You know you got that wrongAfter the match was over Murray had more words for the chair umpire while Fognini wrote on a camera lens Its not overI still like playing these type of matches said Fognini who improved to 54 in his career against Murray the 2016 champion in RomeAnother veteran who advanced earlier was Stan Wawrinka who wasted little time securing a 62 64 win over Ilya Ivashka after the start of play was delayed for 90 minutes due to rainAt age 38 Wawrinka is the oldest man in the tournament but he dominated Ivashka by also hitting more than twice as many winners as his opponent to close it out in little more than an hourThis year I am playing much better but I need to win more matches That is what I am missing a bit the confidence to win more matches said Wawrinka who had two surgeries on his left foot in 2021 and two operations on his left knee in 2017 But in general the level is greatWawrinka a threetime Grand Slam champion next faces 26thseeded Grigor Dimitrov with the winner potentially meeting topranked Novak Djokovic in the third roundMy dream is to win another trophy another tournament Wawrinka said Of course Im getting older its getting more and more difficult The passion and the love for the sport is still there thats why I keep pushing myselfDjokovic who has a firstround bye will open against Tomas Martin Etcheverry who advanced with a 76 7 63 win over 18yearold Luca Van Assche the youngest player in the top 100 of the rankings at No 85Etcheverry reached clay finals in Santiago Chile and Houston earlier this yearAlso advancing on the red clay of the Foro Italico were Alexander Bublik Cristian Garin Marton Fucsovics and Sebastian BaezAustralian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis was leading Jaume Munar 42 in the first set when his Spanish opponent retired due to lower back painKokkinakis will next face local favorite Jannik SinnerArthur Fils another rising 18yearold French player beat fellow qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo 61 16 64 for his first Masters 1000 victory setting up a meeting with Holger RuneWu Yibing of China rallied past French veteran Richard Gasquet 36 63 63 for his first tour win on clayIn womens action Lesia Tsurenko eliminated twotime champion Elina Svitolina in allUkrainian matchupSloane Stephens beat Nadia Podoroska 64 61 and next meets 14thseeded Victoria AzarenkaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever