GEPA pictures/ Matic Klansek – Photo by Icon sport
Daniel Evans vs Fabio Fognini: ATP Rome – First round
Two veteran players will face each other in the first round of the ATP Rome.
Daniel Evans Profile
Daniel Evans is 67th in the ATP rankings, and his career high was No. 21 in the world. The Brit is 3-10 for the season and has lost all three matches on clay so far in 2024.
He is coming off a 7-6, 6-2 loss in the first round in Barcelona to Brandon Nakashima. That was his fourth straight loss after he failed in the openers in Monte Carlo and Marrakech and the second round in Miami.
The only three players Evans defeated this season are Lorenzo Sonego, Roman Safiullin, and Rinki Hijikata.
This is the seventh appearance for Evans in Rome, and he has won only one match in the main draw so far.
Fabio Fognini Profile
Fabio Fognini is 92nd in the rankings, and his career high was No. 9 in the world. The Italian is 10-9 for the season and 6-4 on clay surfaces.
He played his last match in Cagliari, where he retired in the opening round against Francisco Coria.
The week before, Fognini lost in the round of 16 at the Oeiras Challenger to Stefano Napolitano in the decisive tiebreak.
His best result of the season came in Marrakech, where he reached the quarterfinal but was unable to go past Pavel Kotov.
Fognini has been a regular at the ATP Rome since 2005, and his best result was the quarterfinal in 2018.
Head-to-Head Evans leads 1-0
- Evans vs Fognini 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 (2020 ATP Dubai, first round)
Prediction and Conclusion
Fabio Fognini is still hanging on to the tour, and he even has a winning record so far in the season. Daniel Evans is not even close to his form, and clay is not the surface where he plays his best tennis. It will be interesting to see how the two veterans will show up in Rome, but it is obvious that Fognini has the advantage. He is the fan favorite in Rome, which will be a huge boost for him. However, Fognini barely wins in straight sets, which will give some chance to Evans. Given all that, we are going with a high-odds bet with Fognini to win plus over 21.5 games in total.
