Intro:

Fourth seed Fabio Fognini of Italy saved three match points before beating Czech youngster Jiri Vesely 1-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 on Tuesday (17 February) in the first round of the Rio Open.

Script:

Fabio Fognini faced 21 year-old Czech Jiri Vesely in the first round of the Rio Open.

The pair provided an exciting first-round contest when Vesely took the first set comfortably, 6-1.

He then held a 6-3 lead in the second set tie-break.

However, his Italian opponent came charging back to level the match on his second set point to make it one set all.

The momentum stayed with the fourth seed as he clinched victory in an hour and 40 minutes, easily taking the deciding set with a 1-6, 7-6 6-1 scoreline.

Fognini was a quarter-finalist in Rio last year and will now take on Spaniard Pablo Andujar in round two.