Italian Open 2022: Dominic Thiem vs Fabio Fognini preview, head-to-head, odds, pick and prediction
Match details
Fixture: (PR) Dominic Thiem vs Fabio Fognini.
Tournament: Italian Open 2022.
Round: First round (Round of 64).
Venue: Rome, Italy.
Category: ATP Masters 1000.
Surface: Clay.
Prize money: €6,008,725.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Voot & Sports 18.
Dominic Thiem vs Fabio Fognini preview
2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem will take on Fabio Fognini in the first round of the 2022 Italian Open.
Thiem returned to competitive tennis this year after being sidelined since June 2021. His first tournament was the Marbella Challenger, where he lost in the opening round to Pedro Cachin in straight sets. He did a little better at the Serbia Open, where he won a set against John Millman before losing in three.
Thiem's fortunes didn't improve after that either as he lost in two tight sets against Benjamin Bonzi in the first round of the Estoril Open. The Austrian also fell at the opening hurdle at the Madrid Open, this time to former World No. 1 Andy Murray in straight sets.
Thiem looks set to drop outside the top 150 of the rankings following his latest loss.
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Fabio Fognini's performances over the last few weeks have been quite inconsistent. He lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters but bounced back by reaching the semifinals of the Serbia Open. He was beaten by eventual winner Andrey Rublev in straight sets.
Fognini then lost in the first round of the Madrid Open to Nikoloz Basilashivili.
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He'll be aiming for a better showing in his home tournament, where he has underperfomed in the past. Fognini hasn't made it past the first round since 2019.
Dominic Thiem vs Fabio Fognini head-to-head
Thiem leads Fognini 3-1 in the head-to-head. He won their most recent encounter at the 2019 Madrid Open in straight sets. Fognini's only win over the Austrian came at the 2018 Italian Open.
Dominic Thiem vs Fabio Fognini odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Dominic Thiem vs Fabio Fognini prediction
Thiem still hasn't won a match since his return, winning only one set across four matches.
The Austrian has shown flashes of his former form, but those moments have been few and far between. He has found it difficult to sustain his level throughout a match and his forehand, which used to be a huge weapon, is no longer that effective. This could be a result of his wrist injury, which he perhaps doesn't want to aggravate further.
However, Thiem still has some fight in him and has been putting in the work on the practice court. His backhand still works quite well and could be his biggest weapon in this match.
Fognini's serve is not his strongest suit, so the 2020 US Open champion will have plenty of chances to make inroads during return games. The Italian is rather steady from the baseline though, and, like Thiem, is quite at home on clay.
However, Fognini is also known to lose his temper on the court from time to time, which affects his gameplay.
It still doesn't feel like Thiem is back to his best yet, so it's tough to see him making it past Fognini in this contest.
Pick: Fabio Fognini to win in three sets.