PARIS, FRANCE -- Bernard Tomic has advanced to the second round of the BNP Paribas Paris Masters after defeating Fabio Fognini in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. In the early stages of both sets, the Italian looked perfectly poised for an exciting and eventful game, but Tomic was able to see off the Italian in relative ease and style.
A Fabio Full Of Tricks
Fognini hastily started the match with a collection of Hollywood shots. The main pick of the bunch was a lovely backhand down the line which successfully exploited the lack of movement shown by Tomic. From here, the Italian was able to hold his serve at 1-1 in the first set. This continued early in the third game of the first set as the Italian surprising constructed a return ace on the Aussie's well-known strong serve.
Fognini was now looking in a fruitful mood as he was able to manufacture a break point opportunity on the Tomic serve. Unfortunately for Fognini, he was unable to convert the break. The Italian was looking dangerous but it was the German-born Aussie who was not letting anyone run riot on him today. Tomic leads 2-1 in the early stages of the first set.
Tomic Takes Control Of The First Set
With the explosive Italian slowly starting to erupt, Bernard Tomic was fully prepared and continued to nullify the threat. In fact, Tomic took it one step further as he gradually created a break point for himself with some standard rally shots and plenty of gifts from Fognini's double fault at 30-15 and the constant case of unforced errors which was undermining the powerful shots which he was producing. Tomic now led 3-1.
A dominant and focused Tomic started to make full use of his assets, as the powerful serve was unlocked and with this came some classic serve combinations. Despite the efficiency of Tomic, inconsistency crept into his game, and the experienced Fognini closed the gap to 4-3.
However this was just a small chink in Tomic's armor, as he broke immediately back to achieve a first set score of 5-3. An angry Fognini was the result of him being unable to hold serve - Fognini's racket was bouncing off the hard Parisian surface numerous of times in frustration.
Eventually, Tomic was able to comfortably hold serve and win the first set 6-3. Something he would wish can continue in the second set against a now fiery and irritated Italian
Second Set Blues For Fognini
Similarly to the first set, Fognini was showing glimpses of superb shots and a potential comeback wasn't ruled out. The 28-year-old claimed the first game of the second set and a change in tactics looked in order. Fognini now started to make use of the court (fancy drop shots scattered around in each game) which is always a recommenced tactic against the six foot, five inch Aussie.
However once again, Tomic showed his potential and quality as he broke the Fognini serve to make it 2-1 to Tomic in the second set. Now, it was back to the basics for Tomic as he served out the 4th game of the set to solidify the break. Tomic now leads 3-1.
A now extremely vulnerable Fognini was well and truly on the edge of a defeat as Tomic once again broke later on in the second set to place the score at 5-2. Bernard Tomic now peacefully served out the game leading to a final score and defeat of 6-3, 6-2 against the current 22 seed Fabio Fognini. Bernard Tomic will now face the tournaments 3rd seed, Swiss star Stan Wawrinka.