It has become a regular occurrence when Ubitennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta has the media room in hysterics and the Laver Cup was no exception.
The veteran Italian journalist latest encounter involved former world No.1 John McEnroe, who was the captain of team world. Following the conclusion of the three-day event in Geneva, Scanagatta kicked off team world’s press conference. Asking McEnroe if he would have changed anything and if the loss was a nightmare scenario for him. However, Scanagatta is renowned for his lengthy questions. A lot of which generate insightful responses from players on the tour.
“I’d like to know from John McEnroe what would he have changed if he could change something today? Because he didn’t expect probably that Fritz would beat Thiem, but he did. So you weren’t happy of what happened. Can you tell us about that? And also, Federer is talking about a dream weekend. Are you talking about a nightmare?” He asked.
Whilst the question was well meaning, McEnroe didn’t hold back in a humorous exchange. Branding it as a ‘skittish.’ A term used to describe something as either unpredictable or frivolous.
“Why do I even have to answer? I mean, Jesus Christ. That’s a skittlish question.” McEnroe responded.
“Is that good enough? What was the question, Ubaldo? I forgot. I’m not sure I care at this point.” He added.
The friendship between McEnroe and Scanagatta has a long history. The two go way back to the days when the Italian use to take the former tennis player around Florence on his motorbike when the American was looking for a present for his first wife Tatum O’Neal. Scanagatta also had the opportunity to hit with McEnroe at the Club Italia in Forte dei Marmi in the past.
Scanagatta made headlines around the world earlier this year when Rafael Nadal caught him sleeping during his press conference. At the same tournament, Novak Djokovic then gave his own impression of the journalist after winning the title.
https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1089507823548010502
At Wimbledon Scanagatta wrote an article predicting the Matteo Berrettini wouldn’t lose ‘6-1, 6-2, 6-2’ to Roger Federer. Ironically he did lose with that exact score. When Federer found out, he wasn’t going to let that go.
“If you should change your job or not, is that question? Think about it.” The Swiss player said to the Ubitennis chief during an exchange.
It is safe to say that there is never a dull moment when Scanagatta is around. The 70-year-old has now worked at 154 grand slam tournaments so far in his career.
