PARIS, Oct 30 — Fabio Fognini’s hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP finals ended today when the Italian lost 3-6 6-3 6-3 to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the Paris Masters second round.
Fognini, the 11th seed, needed to win the title at the Bercy arena to secure a spot in the November 10-17 tournament featuring the top eight players of the season.
The exuberant 32-year-old made a fine start before losing focus on Court One, sending a backhand long on the unseeded Shapovalov’s first match point.
Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem, who has already qualified for the London event at the O2, downed Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6(5) 5-7 6-4 to reach the third round.
Later on Wednesday, world number one Novak Djokovic kicks off his campaign against French lucky loser Corentin Moutet and world number two Rafa Nadal faces another Frenchman in wild card Adrian Mannarino.
Nadal, a 12-time Roland Garros champion, has never prevailed in the French capital’s year-end Masters. — Reuters
