Italy's Fabio Fognini rediscovered his game just in time to produce a 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 comeback over Joao Sousa to progress to the Monte-Carlo Masters second round on Monday.

The 10th seed stood two points from defeat against a Portuguese opponent ranked 38th.

Fognini suddenly seemed to realize the seriousness of his situation and began pulling himself together. He recovered from a set and 5-2 down, breaking back for 4-5 and leveling at five games apiece. He soon made it a set each in the nick of time. Finally he won the match in two hours and 20 minutes.