Fognini sparks ‘bomb’ storm
WIMBLEDON was left stunned yesterday when world No10 Fabio Fognini declared: ‘I wish a bomb would explode on this club’ in an extraordinary on-court outburst.
The Italian, seeded 12 for Wimbledon, was beaten in straight sets by American Tennys Sandgren and was unhappy with tournament organisers placing the third-round clash on Court 14.
Midway through the second set, a courtside microphone caught the 32-yearold saying in his native language: ‘It’s fair to play here? Damn English, really.
‘Damned, really. I wish a bomb would explode on this club. A bomb should explode here.’
Fognini was quizzed on the comments after his 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 loss. ‘The court was not really good,’ said the Italian, who is due £111,000 for reaching the third round at SW19. ‘You play sport? Most of the
time when you’re on court, you’re frustrated.
‘For sure, I was not happy about my performance because I knew I had a lot to win in this case, because I thought I had a good chance to win.’
Asked if he wanted to apologise for saying a bomb should explode at the All England Club, he replied: ‘I say sorry. If somebody feels offended, I say sorry. No problem.’
Fognini, who also had to take a medical timeout after punching his racket to the ground and leaving his knuckles bloodied, is likely to face repercussions.
He is already serving a two-year suspended sentence for shouting obscenities at a female umpire at the US Open in 2017.
He reportedly called Swedish official Louise Engzell, again in Italian,
‘troia’, which translates as ‘whore’.
Fognini, who is married to former US Open winner Flavia Pennetta, received fines totalling more than £70,000 for that outburst.
His suspended ban can be triggered by another major offence.
Asked if he feared his comments on Court14 yesterday would constitute one, he looked away and said: ‘Next question.’
He did have the largest fine in Wimbledon history — until it was broken by Bernard Tomic and his £45,000 punishment this week.
In 2014, Fognini was fined £11,600 for unsportsmanlike conduct after angrily throwing his racket to the turf, and a further £7,500 for shouting at the umpire.