Fabio Fognini, return to the court is bitter

Fognini out in Gstaad

It is a bitter comeback for Fabio Fognini, who returned to the court at the Gstaad ATP 46 days after his last match played, against Sebastian Ofner in the third round of Roland Garros: in the first round of the Swiss clay court tournament, the Ligurian tennis player in fact succumbed to Spaniard Albert Ramos Viñolas, who won 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.

To the first set, totally dominated by the Spaniard, Fognini was able to respond with an equally dominant second set. The third set was more balanced in terms of play, but Ramos Viñolas was able to win the winning points at the right time, earning a well-deserved success.

For Fognini it is the first first-round knockout since the Miami tournament last March: in Estoril he had in fact managed to make it to the second round, in Rome and Perigi he had instead climbed all the way to the third game: the rust of the downtime inevitably weighed on the performance of the current ATP ranking number 128.

It will therefore be Albert Ramos Viñolas who will play for access to the third round of the tournament, again against an Italian: the next match is in fact against Lorenzo Sonego, number 3 seed in Gstaad and the only Italian left to represent the tricolor.

The first edition of the Swiss Open in Gstaad dates back to 1915 (victory of the Russian Victor De Coubasch), although it is since 1931 that the toenro has found some continuity in the calendar: the most recent winner is Casper Ruud, champion in 2021 and 2022, who, however, is not participating in this year’s edition.