Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini has been announced to be playing at the upcoming Gazprom Hungarian Open in Budapest. Fognini will be featured at the latest edition of the Budapest event. Italy's Fognini is set to play his fifth tournament on clay in the 2017 tennis season. He hasn't had much success so far on that surface this year, as his best result has been the quarter-final of Sao Paulo.
@fabiofogna received a wild card for the Gazprom Hungarian Open! No @andy_murray this year. @ATPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/rbj9ISpmlO
— HUNgarianTENNIS (@HUNgarianTENNIS) April 21, 2017
It's a fresh new tournament
The Gazprom Hungarian Open replaced the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy held in Bucharest in the ATP calendar.
The Budapest event is set to take place next week from April 24-30. The tournament will be played on the slowest tennis surface, clay. Landing Fabio Fognini, a clay court specialist who has three ATP singles titles on that surface, is good news for the tournament organizers.
Rising Lucas Pouille to play as well
World number 17 Pouille is also expected to make his appearance at the event. Pouille has yet to finish his Monte Carlo Masters campaign, having reached the semi-final. He will be meeting Spain's Albert-Ramos Vinolas on Saturday in Monte Carlo.
Pouille had a good run at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy last year, the tournament replaced by the Gazprom Hungarian Open. Unfortunately for Pouille, he fell just shorting of winning it all, losing in the final to veteran Fernando Verdasco.
It remains to be seen if Pouille can make it all the way in Budapest this year.
Verdasco one of the participants
33-year-old Verdasco will also be attending next week's Gazprom Hungarian Open. Verdasco decided to open up his clay court season at the Men's Clay Court Championship which was held from April 10-16. The veteran from Spain lost in the quarter-final stage to eventual champion Steve Johnson of the United States.
Verdasco, who decided to skip this week's Monte Carlo Masters, is set to compete again after a short break.
Fognini has a shot at winning the title
Fabio Fognini will be looking to bounce back after a first-round loss at the Monte Carlo Masters to Pablo Carreno-Busta. The Gazprom Hungarian Open player lineup is not that strong, and Fognini could take advantage of it.
The Budapest event will be held at the same time as the Barcelona Open, where world number one Andy Murray and veteran Tommy Robredo have been confirmed for the tournament.
Although Pouille is one of the top favorites to win the tournament, Fognini will be looking to win his fifth ATP singles title and his first one this season.
