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Fabio Fognini has come to the end of the road in Rome.
The Italian played his last match on Thursday evening at the Foro Italico, falling to Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, 6-2, 6-3.
The 37-year-old finished his 18th appearance with a 16-18 record, his body of work in the Italian capital highlighted by a win over then-World No.1 Andy Murray in 2016 and a victory over then-eighth-ranked Dominic Thiem in 2018.
Fognini reached the quarterfinals that year – his best career performance. He also defeated Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Matteo Berrettini at Rome.
Even if he was never able to reach into the semifinals, the Italian still cherishes his time playing on home soil.
“Since I was a kid I was coming here to say, ‘Oh let’s see, let’s hope to play one day’. And now I’m in the opposite [end of my career]. I think it’s a good time to say goodbye in this beautiful city,” Former World No.9 Fognini told Tennis Channel. “I’m here with a smile on my face because I know that I had a really difficult time during my [18] years in Rome and I would like to enjoy the last lap.”
Adriano Panatta is the last man to win the Rome singles title, in 1976. Fognini remembers his victory over Murray as one of the best of his iconic career, which features nine titles and 426 wins to date.
“One is for sure the victory in the night against Andy Murray when he was No. 1 in the world,” said Fognini, who beat Murray 6-2, 6-4 in Rome in 2017, and also defeated Murray at Rome in 2023. “This one is in the special place, especially here in Rome, for sure. I’d say it’s top three in my career,” he said.
Fognini leaves with stories to tell his children, and that’s what hits heaviest as he says goodbye, whether it was the victories or the losses, like his three-set loss to King of Clay Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals in 2018.
“I play with passion, and sometimes too much,” he said. “But I think when I was playing my best tennis here, I think the crowd was really happy to see me beating Andy. I beat Gael, I beat Tsonga, I beat a lot of good players. Of course the dream since I was a kid was winning here. But if I have to be honest, I have now and [will] have in the future also the opportunity to say to [my son] Federico and [my] two girls that I was able to play against Roger, against Rafa, against Andy, against Novak, and this part of my career was really special.”
It isn’t clear how long Fognini, currently ranked 107, plans to continue his career.
Fonseca Falls at First Hurdle
Heralded teen Joao Fonseca suffered his first opening-round loss at the Masters 1000s on Thursday, falling to Fabian Marozsan, 6-3, 7-6(4).
Scroll down for other results from Thursday:
Marcos Giron beat Gabriel Diallo: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Alexander Bublik beat Roman Safiullin: 6-3, 7-6 (4) Matteo Gigante (WC) beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) Luca Nardi (WC) beat Flavio Cobolli: 6-3, 6-4 Jaume Munar beat Tomas Barrios Vera (Q): 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q) beat Nuno Borges: 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 Mariano Navone beat Federico Cina (WC): 6-3, 6-3 Roberto Bautista Agut beat Matteo Arnaldi: 6-4, 6-3 Aleksandar Vukic beat Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (Q): 7-6 (2), 6-2 Nicolas Jarry beat Hugo Gaston: 7-6 (4), 6-4 Jesper De Jong (LL) beat Alexander Shevchenko (Q): 6-2, 6-4 Luciano Darderi beat Yunchaokete Bu: 7-6 (4), 6-3 Vilius Gaubas (Q) beat Damir Dzumhur: 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-4 Otto Virtanen (Q) beat Hamad Medjedovic: 6-4, 6-4 Laslo Djere beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 6-3, 6-2 Francesco Passaro (WC) beat Chun-Hsin Tseng (Q): 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 Cameron Norrie (LL) beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-3, 6-2 Dusan Lajovic (Q) beat Yoshihito Nishioka: 7-5, 6-1 Roman Andres Burruchaga (Q) beat Lorenzo Sonego: 6-2, 6-3 Vit Kopriva (Q) beat Quentin Halys: 6-4, 6-3 Tallon Griekspoor beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 Carlos Taberner (Q) beat Aleksandar Kovacevic: 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 Camilo Ugo Carabelli beat Pablo Carreno Busta (LL): 6-2, 1-6, 6-3