The first quarter of the 2023 season has been one to forget for former top-10 player Fabio Fognini.
Between January and March, the 35-year-old has only managed to win one out of eight matches players on the Tour which was against Chile’s Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera at the Rio Open. He hasn’t defeated a top 50 player since the US Open last September and is now in danger of falling out of the top 100 for the first time since April 2009.
Fognini has returned to the European clay this week where he won his second Tour match of the season at the Estoril Open on Monday. The veteran player eased to a 6-2, 6-1, win over Alessandro Giannessi in less than an hour.
“I felt really good. I feel like I need to play matches, I need to win matches because my ranking has gone to shit,” a candidly-speaking Fognini said afterwards.
“Jokes aside, I’m happy. I did very well and I’m happy to be able to play one more match.” He added.
Fognini is not the only player to have been struggling this year. Two others players playing in Estoril, Dominic Thiem and Diego Schwartzman, are also experiencing difficulties with their tennis. However, the Italian believes he can still be a formidable force on the Tour if he is playing well on the day.
“I’m 35 years old and mentally things are more difficult,” he admits. “There are days when I feel less like it. It’s part of the cycle of life and we have to accept it, but I feel that I’m playing well and that the victories can come again.’
“From here to Paris I hope to have fun and play better. My ranking is very bad, but I know that on a good day I can beat anyone.”
Awaiting Fognini in the second round of Estoril will be Marco Cecchinato who knocked out seventh-seed Schwartzman in straight sets. The world No.96 is another player yet to find his best form this year and is yet to win back-to-back matches.
“I have to be worried about my tennis. If I play well, even at 35 years old, I know I can beat anyone,” Fognini states. “I have nothing to prove to anyone. It will be a new encounter against a teammate and it will certainly be tough.”
Fognini leads Cecchinato 3-1 in their head-to-head with all of their previous meetings being on the clay.
