Wawrinka Wins, Fognini Foils Thiem At Rome Masters; Djokovic v Karatsev Tues.

Comebacks were the stories of Day 2 at the Rome Masters.

Three-time Slam winner Stan Wawrinka won his very first match of any kind in over a year since the 2021 Australian Open with a tough 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over American big man and 2021 Rome semifinalist Reilly Opelka.

Wawrinka has been off the tour following multiple surgeries on his left foot.

“I was feeling good on the court. Physically I was feeling great,” Wawrinka said. “When you don’t win a match in more than a year, you start to think about it more than what you should and not focus on the right things.

“In general I think it was a great match, great battle. I stayed positive. I start to feel much better with my tennis by the end of the second set, and the third set. I’m really happy with this victory.”

Dominic Thiem resumed his comeback but once again came up empty in a 6-4, 7-6(5) loss to Italian favorite Fabio Fognini.

“Of course I’m happy because I won,” said Fognini. “It’s never easy playing against a great champion. Happy to be here and another chance to play in this great atmosphere.”

Thiem is now 0-5 including Challengers in his return.

“I’m really frustrated right now, obviously,” said Thiem. “Things have improved again since Madrid. That’s good. I looked at the stats after the first set on the big screen. Actually they are getting better and better. The first-serve percentage, first-serve wins, second-serve wins actually had better stats in the first set. Just zero out of three break points. I have to play better those close points.”

Borna Coric, who is making his return from a bad shoulder, also lost.

Other results saw Botic van de Zandschulp knock out Sebastian Korda. Jenson Brooksby, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Denis Shapovalov and Pablo Carreno Busta were also winners.

Tomorrow, some of the top seeds make the debuts led by 5-time champion Novak Djokovic. The Serb who has made the Rome finals the last three years, opens against Russia’s Aslan Karatsev.

Jannik Sinner, 2020 runner-up Diego Schwartzman and Andrey Rublev are also in action.

ROME TUESDAY SCHEDULE
Center Court Starts At 11:00 Am
R64 Jasmine Paolini vs Jil Teichmann
R64 12 Diego Schwartzman vs Miomir Kecmanovic
R32 1 Novak Djokovic vs Aslan Karatsev
Not Before 7:00 PM
Sorana Cirstea vs 9 Ons Jabeur
Not Before 8:30 Pm
R64 Pedro Martinez vs 10 Jannik Sinner

Grand Stand Arena Starts At 11:00 Am
R64 Grigor Dimitrov vs (Q) Brandon Nakashima
R64 (WC) Luca Nardi vs 9 Cameron Norrie
Camila Osorio vs (WC) Lucia Bronzetti
10 Emma Raducanu vs (DA ) Bianca Andreescu
Not Before 7:00 Pm
R32 6 Andrey Rublev vs Filip Krajinovic