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Italian, who reached QFs in 2018, plays Fearnley on Thursday

Fabio Fognini
© Peter Staples/ATP Tour

by ATP Staff

Rome — May 07

Fabio Fognini has announced that this year’s appearance at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome will be his last at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

“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 [time of my career]. I think it’s a good time to say goodbye in this beautiful city, special city,” Fognini told Tennis Channel. “But yes, I’m here with a smile on my face because I know that I had a really difficult time during my 15, I don’t know, 16, 20 years in Rome and I would like to enjoy the last lap.”

It All Adds Up

Fognini holds a 16-17 record in Rome. The 37-year-old made his debut at the clay-court event in 2006, with his best performance a quarter-final run in 2018.

The former No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings reflected on his achievements in the Italian capital ahead of his final appearance this week.

“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. “This one is in the special place, especially here in Rome, for sure. I’d say it’s top three in my career.

“I live for [those] moments. My character is like that. I play with passion, and sometimes too much. 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 have in the future also the opportunity to say to Federico and the 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.”

Fognini, a wild card this week, will face Jacob Fearnley in the first round on Thursday and is chasing his first tour-level win since last October. If he advances, he would play countryman Matteo Berrettini in the second round.