Fabio Fognini will play UTS Guadalajara, replacing injured Kyrgios

Italian Fabio Fognini, aka “Fogna”, will be part of the first UTS Tour event in 2025, in Guadalajara this week. The 37-year-old, who made his UTS debut in 2021 on clay, will join Casper Ruud, Denis Shapovalov and Adrian Mannarino in competing for a place in the Final Four.

Fognini replacing injured Nick Kyrgios. The Australian player is still recovering from an injury suffered at the Australian Open in January.

The abdominal tear which he battled in his loss to Jacob Fearnley and during his doubles match with Thanasi Kokkinakis in Melbourne is still troubling Kyrgios.

In a statement, Kyrgios said: “Hi, Mexican UTS fans. I am really sorry to share with you that I will not be able to compete at UTS Guadalajara this year,” before going on to say “My latest medical exams have sadly just shown that I won’t have recovered enough from my abdominal injury to be able to compete at UTS in February. I am really frustrated, but I need my body to heal before being able to play matches again.”

The 29-year-old – known as ‘King Kyrgios’ – was set to play his second event on the UTS Tour after playing in New York last year, where he defeated Casper Ruud before pulling out.

Fognini is expected in Mexico on Wednesday.

Tomas Machac, Flavio Cobolli, David Goffin and Jakub Mensik compete for the other two semi-final spots in Group B.

UTS Guadalajara takes place from February 14 to 16 at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Guadalajara