Madrid Masters 1000, Fabio Fognini punches ticket to main draw

There will also be Fabio Fognini in the main draw of the 2025 edition of the Madrid Masters 1000: the veteran racket player, currently No. 112 in the world rankings, in fact overcame Australian Rinky Hijikata (No. 84) in three sets, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, in the final round of the qualifying tournament. Fognini returns to the main draw of the Spanish capital’s tournament three years after his last participation.

In spite of a lightning start, with Fognini immediately ahead 3-0, Tuesday’s was certainly not a walk in the park, not least because Hijikata showed great commitment already in the first set, pulling back to 3-3 before surrendering the next three games, and confirming himself a tough nut in the second fraction, which the Ligurian lost in the 12th game.

In the third and decisive set Fognini nullified a break point in the first game and then went on to win the break in the sixth game, taking a 4-2 lead. Hijikata responded by shortening to 3-4, but Fognini made his experience count by going on to win at the end of a real marathon, which ended after two hours and three quarters.

The Italians in the main draw of the men’s tournament in Madrid thus become nine: the possibility of having ten, however, vanished when Luca Nardi, number 100 in the ATP rankings, succumbed in two sets to Frenchman Hugo Gaston, number 80, with a 6-4, 6-2 final that thus prevented the Pesaro-born player from entering the first round of the second Masters 1000 on clay on the calendar.