Murray runs out of steam, exits Rome

ROME, May 11

Andy Murray’s chances of being seeded for the French Open were dented today when the former world No. 1 lost to Fabio Fognini in the first round of the Italian Open.

Just days after winning the second-tier Aix-en-Provence Challenger Tour crown, his first title since 2019 and first on clay since 2016, Murray delivered another inconsistent claycourt performance in a 6-4 4-6 6-4 defeat by Fognini.

Murray, who had been hoping to boost his world ranking with a deep run in Rome and be seeded for Roland Garros, said it had been a “pretty patchy match” against the Italian. “There was some good stuff in there, but also some pretty average stuff,” he said. “He played well in the third set. My level was OK, but he played really well in the third.”

In the women’s section, Victoria Azarenka ended Sloane Stephens’ six-match winning streak with a 6-4 6-3 win, while qualifier Anna Bondar scored her first top-20 win with a 7-6(5) 6-2 result against No. 13 seed Karolina Pliskova. — Agencies