Top seed Andy Murray is taking nothing for granted ahead of his third round meeting with Fabio Fognini at Wimbledon on Friday.
The world No.1 secured his place in the last 32 after dismissing Dustin Brown in straight sets. Murray’s strong performance against the German saw him produced a total of 31 winners compared to only five unforced errors. Meanwhile, Fognini also came through in straight sets against Jiri Vesely.
Playing on home soil, Murray remains the favourite against his Italian rival, who will play in the third round at Wimbledon for only the second time in his career. On the other hand, he has been troubled by Fognini on previous occasions. At the Italian Open in May, a lackluster performance resulted in him being crushed by the world No.29.
“I expect a really serious test when we play on Friday because he’s good off both forehand and backhand, and can hit a lot of winners. This will be our first meeting on grass, so we’ll see how that changes things.” Murray told the BBC.
Fognini, who is yet to play a tour final on the grass, is currently beaming with confidence. On Wednesday he described his win over Vesely as ‘one of his best’ performances ever on the surface. Although he has already defeated the world No.1 once this year, the Italian is not reading too much into it.
“If I have to be honest, I think it’s completely different play here.” Said Fognini.
“So it’s going to be really tough, for sure. He’s the favourite.
“I think I have the game to play against him, hopefully to play my best tennis another time, try to complicate his life on court.”
There will be no surprises in store for the two players, who have both known each other since the age of 12. This summer marks the tenth anniversary of the first time they played each other on the tour at the Canadian Masters. Since then, they have play another five times with their head-to-head level at 3-3. Murray’s most recent win in their rivalry occurred at last year’s Olympic Games when he prevailed in three sets.
“He moves extremely well on the other surfaces. I don’t know how well he moves on the grass. I haven’t played him on it. But he certainly can play well.” The Brit said about his opponent.
A win on Friday will move Murray into the fourth round at SW19 for the tenth consecutive year. As for Fognini, he is bidding to reach the last 16 at a major for the first time since the 2015 US Open.
