Local favourite Fabio Fognini will face 7th seed Holger Rune in the third round of the Italian Open

Italy’s Fabio Fognini has already hinted that this could be his last professional season and the veteran would definitely love to cap it off with an ATP title win on home turf. He has been very impressive so far in Rome and began his campaign with a commendable victory against Andy Murray.

Fognini then pulled off an upset against 30th seed Miomir Kecmanovic to set up a clash against Rune. It is set to be a tough challenge for Fognini against the Danish star but the Italian veteran has what it takes to pull off a memorable victory.

Holger Rune’s form coming into the match

Holger Rune has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP tour currently. He achieved his career-best ranking of World No.7 this year after a string of consistent results. Last month, Rune won his first ATP title of the season at the Bavarian International and he has come into this tournament high on confidence.

Rune received a ‘Bye’ in the Round of 128 and directly played the second round match against Arthur Fils. He registered a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 victory to progress to the third round. Rune is one of the favourites to go all the way and clinch the title but it remains to be seen if he manages to live up to the high expectations.

Details:

Date – Sunday, 14th May

Court Type – Clay outdoor surface

Telecast – Tennis Channel

Start Time – To be Announced

Location – Foro Italico

Match details – Round of 32 match

Head-to-head and Predictions

Fognini and Rune have played each other once before on the ATP tour. The sole encounter was played at the 2022 ATP Masters in Canada with the Danish ace emerging victorious in straight sets and thereby leads 1-0 on head to head. On paper, Runs is the favourite both in terms of form and rankings. However, one can certainly not rule out Fognini and he is expected to put up a tough fight. Despite that, we are predicting a comfortable win for Holger Rune in straight sets.

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