Italian stuck on Court 14: I wish a bomb would blow up Wimbledon
ITALIAN player Fabio Fognini sparked outrage and a likely fine at Wimbledon yesterday when he called for a ‘bomb’ to be dropped on the famous club.
The hot-headed 12th seed was frustrated at being placed on the less-than-prestigious Court 14 and lashed out in his native tongue, yelling: ‘It’s fair to play here? Damn English, really. Damned, really. Wish a bomb would explode on this club. A bomb should explode here.’
In an eventful match against American Tennys Sandgren, which he lost in straight sets, Fognini also required treatment for injuring his knuckles after punching his tennis racquet into the grass.
The Italian – who was kicked out of the US Open two years ago for calling a female umpire a ‘whore’ and a ‘ **** sucker’ – risked a huge fine when he expressed his desire for the All England Club to have a bomb dropped on it, rekindling memories of October 1940 when the Luftwaffe did exactly that on Centre Court, dropping five 500lb bombs which punched a hole through the stand roof and destroyed hundreds of seats.
Fognini gave something of an apology after his defeat, although he still complained about the conditions.
He said: ‘The court was not really good. Most of the time when you’re on court, you’re frustrated. Something happened on court. If somebody feels offended, I say sorry. No problem.’
The row came as it emerged that fears over an acid attack have led the club to ask spectators entering with drinks to taste them in front of security staff. The measures were introduced following a surge in the number of acid attacks in the UK – latest figures show there have been more than 2,000 in less than three years.
Security this year is tighter than ever, with people bringing in laptops being asked to switch them on in front of staff. Those who were unable to turn on their laptop due to a flat battery were given chargers.
Yesterday, there were mixed fortunes for the remaining British hopes. Johanna Konta staged a determined comeback to beat American ninth seed Sloane Stephens and reach the fourth round. The 2017 semi-finalist had trailed by a set and was under pressure on her serve before regrouping to win 3-6 6-4 6-1. She is the only home hope left in the women’s singles after Harriet Dart’s 6-1 6-1 loss to top seed Ashleigh Barty, and will play former champion Petra Kvitova in the fourth round tomorrow.
Coco Gauff, 15, has captured the hearts of the Wimbledon crowds with her fearless approach, but the teenager owes a debt to tennis legend Roger Federer, her father Corey revealed.
The youngster received a crucial pep talk from the 20-times Grand Slam singles winner in early 2018 when, aged just 13, she was knocked out in the first round of both the doubles and singles of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Coco is signed to Federer’s management group and he is credited by her family with a transformation in form that led to the junior French Open title and her current run at Wimbledon.
‘The words that he said to her in Australia really helped her,’ former college basketball star Mr Gauff said. ‘She was really down and questioning herself, but he spoke to her, told her to get back to work. He said, yes, it is disappointing, but sometimes you will be disappointed. It helped.’
Play was suspended on Court 12 and the stands cleared yesterday after a spectator collapsed during German Jan-Lennard Struff’s match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. A steward said the 60-year-old had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator and the crowd was asked to leave so paramedics could treat her.