Despite having recently ended a four-year title drought at Aix-en-Provence in France, Murray was forced to make another one of his classic comebacks after losing the first set. He managed to even the score and force a decisive third set but was unable to recover from a difficult opening service game, ultimately losing 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Fognini, who will now face Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.
Early on, Murray faced five break points and fell behind 40-0 in the opening game, but he saved all of them to hold on. Fognini maintained his dominance and earned a break in the third game, eventually winning the first set.
Murray began the second set with a renewed sense of energy and took a commanding 5-1 lead. Although Fognini fought back to 5-4, Murray secured his fourth break of the set in the 10th game, staying alive in the match. However, Fognini broke Murray's serve in the opening game of the third set and dropped only three points on serve for the remainder of the match to advance to the second round.
