Andy Murray should not underestimate Fabio Fognini, says Mark Petchey
"If he starts lighting things up out there he can be tricky"
Thursday 3 August 2017 22:27, UK
"He's a guy that you don't want to underestimate" - Mark Petchey says defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray "will want to fire it up" when he takes on Fabio Fognini on Friday.
Murray saw off the spirited, unconventional but never really serious challenge of Dustin Brown in a sun-drenched Wimbledon Centre Court to set up a tasty clash against Fognini on Friday.
After seeing off maverick Wimbledon debutant Alexander Bublik in round one and the clash with Brown, Murray faces another showman, 28th seed Fognini, in round three.
But Sky Sports tennis analyst Petchey believes the British world No 1 has to be wary of the dangerous Italian, who crushed him as recently as May with a straight-sets win in the second round of the Rome Masters.
"He's a guy that you don't want to underestimate," said Petchey. "He's favourite surface is clay and he doesn't have the biggest of serves so you kind of feel that Andy will obviously be able to attack the second particularly or get into a lot of rallies when Fognini is serving.
"If he serves like the way he did today, Andy, then he's going to get a lot more free points and a lot more unreturned balls so that will be a lot more easier for him. But the guy you don't want to definitely underestimate on any surface to be honest is Fognini. If he starts lighting things up out there he can be tricky."
Although revenge might be on Murray's mind, Petchey feels "it's always a dangerous emotion" but he will "want to fire it up" on Centre Court in front of his home fans.
"Obviously he will be disappointed about what happened in Rome than anybody else, credit to Fabio for playing one of the matches of the year, but at home, here, you've got to fancy Murray's chances."
Murray dominated his second-round match against Brown to cruise through to the last 32 at Wimbledon.
The world No 1 took just an hour and 36 minutes to defeat his German-Jamaican opponent 6-3 6-2 6-2 and his performance pleased Petchey.
"I thought his performance was great and obviously Dustin has the potential to be quite awkward," he said. "He's had four Top 10 scalps and loves grass, big personality, big court, relish the opportunity.
"I thought Andy did well to stay neutral for the first seven games and you kind of always knew the break would come, it was just a question of when? And then after that he served beautifully, moved great, everything looked very good.
"I know people were looking at his hip, but there's no question having watched him practice last week that it's something that has been troubling him. I think he's doing a good job at rehabbing it and practising at the same time. And also putting it to one side on the match court. Not everyone is capable of doing it as effectively as Andy has done and I think that's tribute to him."
Mark Petchey was speaking to Raz Mirza at Wimbledon. For those on the move, we will have Wimbledon covered via our website skysports.com/tennis and then click through to our dedicated section skysports.com/tennis/wimbledon. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the All England Club titles this summer? Have your say...
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