Marozsan overcomes Fonseca in Rome opener

Fabian Marozsan fended off a mid-match fight back from Joao Fonseca on Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he earned an impressive 6-3, 7-6(4) first-round victory against the #NextGenATP Brazilian star.

Marozsan dropped just five points on serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in an impressive first set before he rode a storm in the second set to earn victory after 88 minutes.

Fonseca struggled to find his range in the opener but drew himself and the crowd back into the clash in the second set when he hit a series of stunning winners to break back. However, he was ultimately unable to force a decider, with Marozsan the more consistent in the tie-break to set a second-round meeting with Andrey Rublev.

Marozsan has fond memories in Rome, having defeated Carlos Alcaraz en route to the fourth round on debut in 2023. The Hungarian holds a 12-11 record in 2025, with his best result a semi-final showing at the ATP 500 clay-court event in Munich.

Fonseca captured his maiden tour-level crown on clay in Buenos Aires in February but has struggled at the start of the European clay swing. The 18-year-old Brazilian lost in the second round in Madrid and in his opening match at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Estoril.

Earlier, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut earned his first win in Rome for four years when he defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who arrived on home soil off the back of a quarter-final run in Madrid.

The 37-year-old Bautista Agut struck 20 winners in a 6-4, 6-3 first-round win and will next meet 11th seed Tommy Paul.

Last year’s finalist Nicolas Jarry also made a winning start, moving past Hugo Gaston 7-6(4), 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes. Jarry overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paul en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Rome last season before falling to Alexander Zverev. Aiming to continue his run this week, the Chilean next plays Francisco Cerundolo.

Dutch lucky loser Jesper De Jong, who beat Fonseca in Estoril last week, downed Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 6-4, while Mariano Navone beat #NextGenATP Italian Federico Cina 6-3, 6-3. Navone will play Jannik Sinner in the second round.

Alexander Bublik eliminated Roman Safiullin 6-3, 7-6(4), Italian wild card Luca Nardi beat countryman Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 and Marcos Giron overcame Madrid quarter-finalist Gabriel Diallo 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.