Murray in the mire as slump sees Fognini dish out beating
ANDY MURRAY’S disastrous start to the season went from bad to worse last night as his defence of the Italian Open was brought to an abrupt halt in a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to Fabio Fognini.
Any hope that the world No1 was going to get some kind of much-needed bounce from reaching his landmark 30th birthday earlier this week was immediately torn to shreds.
The Scot, whose triumph in Rome last year over Novak Djokovic was one of nine titles he won in 2016, was eliminated here in the second round having already received a bye.
And it followed hard on the heels of last week’s awful showing in Madrid where he was also beaten in straight sets by 20-year-old Borna Coric at the same stage.
Last night’s opponent, home favourite Fognini, is a little longer in the tooth than the Croatian at the age of 29 but these are the kind of players that Murray normally has for breakfast on his way deep into the latter stages of these tournaments.
Fognini frustrated Murray with some genius drop shots in what was an aggressive display in front of a raucous home crowd.
The unpredictable Italian led 5-1 in the second set but he nearly let the Scot force a third set with a series of errors.
Presented with that kind of opportunity, Murray would normally take it with both hands.
However, he allowed Fognini to finally close out for victory when he served for the match for a second time.
Something remains worryingly wrong with the Murray game following his return from an elbow injury earlier this year.
He has not gone further than the fourth round in any of the biggest tournaments so far in 2017. His status at the top of the rankings is not under immediate threat but big chunks of his points are now dropping away.
The exertions of last year may still be taking their toll on his body and on his general motivation.
It was at this same stage in 2016 that he embarked on the superb seven-month run which propelled him to world No1.
How far away that all seems now and this alarming slump in form somehow has to be halted before the French Open starts on May 28.
Djokovic, who has suffered in similar fashion of late, at least seems to be regaining some kind of spark ahead of Roland Garros.
Yesterday the Serb defeated Murray’s fellow Brit Aljaz Bedene 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
‘I had a little bit of a slow start but Bedene is the kind of player that gives you good rhythm,’ said Djokovic, who was beaten in the Madrid Open semi-finals by Rafael Nadal last week.
‘I had some good exchanges, some good games with rallies and it felt right, especially in the second set.’
Djokovic dominated the tiebreak to win a tight first set against Bedene but eased through the next on his way to victory.
He now faces either Pablo Carreno Busta or Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.
Meanwhile, British No 1 Konta, started her Italian Open campaign with a straightforward 6-3, 6-0 victory over Yulia Putintseva.
The world No 6 broke the 2016 French Open quarter-finalist on five occasions to give herself some much-needed confidence on the Italian clay with the second grand slam of the year at Roland Garros starting next week.
The 25-year-old reached the third round in this event last year but has struggled on the clay surface this season, with a second-round exit at the Stuttgart Open last month coupled with a first-round loss at the Madrid Open ten days ago.
WORLD No 1 Andy Murray last night insisted he can turn his alarming slump in form around in time for the French Open despite his defence of the Italian Open collapsing at the first hurdle. The Scot, who turned 30 on Monday, was powerless to resist talented home favourite Fabio Fognini in their second-round encounter and went down 6-2, 6-4 with barely a whimper. But Murray, who bristled at suggestions his ranking was affecting his game, said: ‘I’m just not playing good tennis and I need to try and work out how to turn that around. I