Who could have thought that the defending champion would have to steal victory from the jaws of defeat against a 38-year-old in the first round of the 2025 Wimbledon? Defying all the odds against someone like Carlos Alcaraz, Italy’s Fabio Fognini forced a five-setter to decide the ultimate winner in the first-round match. Alcaraz had to earn each of his points against free-hitting Fognini. It took 4 hours and 37 minutes to bring an end to this thrilling battle at 7-5, 6(5)-7, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in favor of the Spaniard. With this win, Alcaraz has now also become one of the four players in the Open Era to win each of his first eighteen opening Men’s singles matches at Grand Slam events, along with the likes of tennis greats like Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, and Rafael Nadal. But on the other side, it’s yet another missed opportunity for Fognini!

Fabio Fognini’s best record at the majors came in 2011 when he reached the QF of the French Open. Although he has reached the third round of the Wimbledon championships seven times in his career, he has never managed to reach the fourth round. Having started his professional career in 2004, Fognini has already hinted at his retirement during the 2025 Italian Open. He then said, “I think it’s a good time to say goodbye in this beautiful city, special city (Rome). But yes, I’m here with a smile on my face because I know that I had a really difficult time during my 15, I don’t know, 16, 20 years in Rome, and I would like to enjoy the last lap.“

He faced a defeat in the first round of the 2025 Italian Open at the hands of the Brit, Jacob Fearnley. It was really an emotional moment for him to end his journey with that result on his home soil. Following that, Fognini couldn’t make it through to the main round at Roland Garros, and now at Wimbledon, despite a hard-fought battle, he had to yet again end up on the losing side. What was his reaction after this match, though?

During his post-match press conference, Fabio Fognini was asked to reflect a bit on what exactly was going through his mind when he saw Carlos Alcaraz pointing at him to get applause from the crowd despite him sealing the victory against the Italian. In reply, Fognini said, “I was really emotional, to be honest. I cried in the locker room. Because, as I said, I didn’t expect to play 5 sets against him. The way I was coming here, no expectations. Since I started the year this year after the injury, I was playing really bad. I didn’t win many matches… There is no better way to play in this court with a great champion that I have a lot of respect for, and for his team because I know them very, very well.“

Receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at Wimbledon meant a lot to this 38-year-old, and his emotions portrayed every bit of it at the end of this match. Despite this grueling battle, both these players were seen enjoying their company on the court. In one such moment, Fabio Fognini was even seen joking, threatening to hit a ball at Carlos Alcaraz during the start of the decider. Then, after the match, the Italian was even spotted asking for Alcaraz’s T-shirt, as his son is a huge fan of Alcaraz. 

Fabio Fognini is a well-known figure not only in Italian tennis but also in the world. Previously, while sharing his thoughts about the Italian during the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Andy Roddick said, “He was the last guy I beat. It’s funny, you have some people who, how they are on court, does not really tell the entire story. I do not know if I ever saw a bad moment with Fabio [Fognini] when he wasn’t between the lines.” Roddick had met Fognini twice in his career, and the American got the better of Fognini on both occasions.

Revealing more about his relationship with him, Andy Roddick said, “Off the court, easy to talk to, always up for a joke, willing to laugh at himself if he had done something crazy a couple of days earlier. He was always in on the joke with himself. I always really got along and had a lot of respect for Fognini.” That’s how Fognini managed to win the hearts of his peers. Even Carlos Alcaraz was seen showcasing a fair bit of love and respect for him after his recent win at Wimbledon. What did he say, though?

Carlos Alcaraz shares a heartfelt message to Fabio Fognini after his first-round win

Carlos Alcaraz has made plenty of records with this win against the Italian. With this hard-fought victory, he became the player with the most Grand Slam five-setters won in the Open Era (14) after his first 15, equaling Mats Wilander. He’s now 14-1 in Grand Slam five-setters. What was his reaction to this hard-earned victory, though? 

Well, first and foremost, Alcaraz shared a heartfelt message with Fabio Fognini. In his on-court interview, he said, “I don’t know why it’s his last Wimbledon, because with the level he has shown, he can still play three or four more years. I have to give him credit for such a great match. Fabio is such a great player; he has shown in his whole career the level he has. I’m just a little bit sad that it’s his last Wimbledon, but happy to have shared the court with him.” This was his third meeting with Fognini, and with this win, he has now taken his H2H record to 3-0 against the Italian.

He now has a perfect 18-0 record in the first round of the major tournaments. But having said that, Carlos Alcaraz did admit that the first match on Centre is never easy. Next up for him is the local lad Oliver Tarvet. Can he keep his winning run intact in this tournament? Time will tell! But there has already been a lot of optimism surrounding his chances at the 2025 Wimbledon.

Previously, we’ve seen CoCo Vandeweghe speaking about how impressed she was to see Alcaraz make a swift transition to grass from clay. She claimed, “What amazes me each and every time I watch him transition from hard to clay to grass is how well his game just seamlessly just moves onto the next surface. I don’t think we’ve seen any player really do that. I mean, we can think of the greats of Roger Federer and Rafa (Rafael Nadal) and even Novak (Djokovic), and they all struggled for a little bit, especially in their years to get that transition from the different surfaces and make their game work.”

Even Sam Querrey spoke about Carlos Alcaraz’s unique ability to find success instantly on grass after coming out of a clay swing. Other than these two, another American legend, Andy Roddick, dropped a bold verdict on Alcaraz’s chances at Wimbledon. He stated that Alcaraz will be a favorite at Wimbledon. Do you also think the same, or will one of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic get the better of him this time?