In-form Fognini a solid 9-2 favourite for Swiss stroll

Starts Monday

Only one top 20 player - world number 12 Sam Querrey - is in the Geneva Open field and the weakness of the event could play into the hands of market leader Fabio Fognini, who looks a tasty 9-2 shot to add to his six clay-court titles.

Fognini is capable of troubling the best players on clay and he demonstrated his ability with an impressive run to the quarter-finals at last week's Italian Open.

The 30-year-old was a 6-4 1-6 6-3 winner against Dominic Thiem in his second-round match and bowed out of the tournament with a 4-6 1-6 2-6 last-eight loss to Rafael Nadal.

It was the best tennis Fognini has served up since he won the Brazil Open in March and it set him up perfectly for a decent run in Geneva, where he is competing for the first time.

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka is the second favourite and will have the support of large sections of the Swiss crowd.

But it is hard to put much faith in the 33-year-old, who is still getting his game together after recovering from knee surgery.

Wawrinka lost 6-4 6-4 to American Steve Johnson in their second-round match at the Italian Open and there is a possibility of the players meeting again in the Geneva semi-finals.

Johnson is a no-frills competitor, who usually falls short against top-level opponents but he won the US Clay Court Championship in April and was a quarter-finalist in Geneva last year.

His involvement at the Italian Open last week was ended by a respectable 4-6 6-2 4-6 loss to tenth seed Pablo Carreno Busta and he may fare better at a big price in Geneva, where the draw has worked out well for him.

Recommendations
F Fognini
3pts 9-2 Coral, Ladbrokes
S Johnson
1pt each-way 50-1 188Bet

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