Andy Murray faces a challenging first-round match against Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open, where he will look to build on his recent victory at Open Aix-en-Provence. Although Murray is up to No. 42 in the world rankings, he has lost two of his last three meetings against Fognini.
Murray’s victory over Tommy Paul marked his first title in almost four years, but he will need to overcome the Italian’s home advantage to advance in the tournament. If Murray beats Fognini, he will face 30th seed Miomir Kecmanovic in the next round.
Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, will also compete at the Italian Open and is on Murray’s half of the draw. Djokovic missed the Madrid Open with an injury, but he will be looking to defend his title in Rome.
The Serbian will open against either Luca Van Assche or Tomas Martin Etcheverry and could face either Grigor Dimitrov or Stan Wawrinka in the third round. Djokovic’s quarter of the draw also includes British No. 1 Cameron Norrie and world No. 7 Holger Rune.
On the other half of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz will look to continue his impressive run of form with a third consecutive tournament win. Alcaraz, who won the Breakthrough of the Year award at the Laureus World Sports Awards, is assured of taking over from Djokovic as world No. 1 after the Italian Open as long as he plays a match.
Alcaraz will open against either Francesco Passaro or Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and last year’s Rome runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas is in his quarter. The Italian Open is the last big event before the French Open starts on May 28.
