Italian Open in Rome, 1st Round, Monday, 09.05.2022
Title collector Carlos Alcaraz foregoes the Italian Open in Rome – is this THE chance for the many other top players? Dominic Thiem is competing in the eternal city with completely different ambitions, he finally wants to win a match again.
In his first round match, he has been drawn with a demanding player, albeit not one who is currently unbeatable. In my Fognini Thiem tip you can find out why I still don’t believe the tournament will be a success.
Beating Rafael Nadal outright on clay, losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals – those were the glory days of Dominic Thiem five years ago in the eternal city.
The Austrian knows what it feels like to travel to Rome as a top star, for years he was ranked among the top 10 in the world. Now he has to face completely different goals, namely to get back into shape at all after his long injury.
From June to the end of March, he fought for his comeback in rehabilitation clinics and on training courts. Although he is back on the court, he has not yet been allowed to learn how to win again.
He has played four tournaments in the last few weeks, but has never progressed. In Belgrade, against John Millman, he managed to win at least one set.
He also had no chance in Madrid a few days ago, with veteran Andy Murray far too strong at 6-4, 6-3. What can Thiem do now in Rome? He only won one match at this Masters, his last three participations were anything but successful.
Of course, the 28-year-old, who has now slipped to 162nd in the world rankings, has been drawn a very difficult opponent. He has already played Fabio Fognini four times and is 3:1 ahead in the Head2Head.
Fognini may be clearly ahead of Thiem in the rankings (56th), but I can’t classify him as a top player for a long time. In his home country, he finally wants to conjure up a really strong tournament on the court again.
He was already in the eternal city in 2006, but the list of successes there is extremely manageable. In 2018, he reached the quarter-finals just once, even taking a set from Rafael Nadal.
After 2020 and 2021, Fognini now wants to avoid a third consecutive elimination right at the start. That’s exactly what happened to him in Madrid, where he lost in two sets to Nikolos Bassilashvilii.
Although he made it to the semi-finals in Belgrade, he did not really face strong competition here, losing to Andrey Rublev 2-6, 2-6. But: Dominic Thiem is probably not stronger than Oscar Otte, Aljaz Bedene and Marco Cecchinato, whom Fognini defeated here.
My Fognini Thiem Tip
Dominic Thiem doesn’t have much time left to get in shape for the French Open. The Austrian needs match practice but has always been eliminated at the start since his comeback.
He hasn’t managed anything in Rome for a couple of years now.
The semi-final in Belgrade is particularly worth mentioning here. I think Dominic Thiem can keep up quite well, but in my eyes the time is not yet ripe for a win. Therefore my tip is:
Fognini beats Thiem!
