TENNIS – Fabio Fognini has got quite a name for his bad tantrums and his latest one in Shanghai inspired a little collection of his “best” moments.
Fabio Fognini has been for years one of the biggest daredevils of the tennis world in recent times and, after a calmer phase when he reached his career best ranking at world number 13, he seems to be back to the old habits.
In his latest appearance in Shanghai, he suffered a surprising upset by the hands of Chuhan Wang, Chinese wild card ranked outside of top 500. So the Italian thought it was convenient to show his hand skills too, leaving the court with a clearly showed middle finger.
His gesture came after a relatively calm couple of months. Before that, his worst tirade happened in Hamburg, last summer, when he called his winning opponent, Filip Krajinovic, “zingaro di merda” (shitty gipsy, transl.).
The worst part of the these last two incidents was the rudeness and, for the latter, the racist connotation. In his past years, he has always been a hot-head, but his tirades were mostly aimed against himself, his corner or, at worst, the umpires.
He used to be somewhat of a character, even if not much of a role model and some of his tantrums became quite a show on the web. Here you can watch some of his best/worst moments available on the web.
1) “Metterci la faccia” (Take your responsibility, transl.)
Over the past year, his famous motto “non mollare mai” (never give up, transl.) seemed to have been replaced by the quotation above. On Italian media, he often defended himself after his tirades with these words, meaning that he knew he had been wrong, but at least he was taking his own responsibilities.
In the video, however, he threw a tantrum against his corner and, most of all, his dad.
Maybe, Fognini should start considering his responsibilities before he shows his worst side to the world.
2) Bad mouth in Indian Wells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUGwFPLHhB8
In a high quality match, in terms of bad tempers of the players involved, Fognini showed all his dramatic skills in a massive tirade against the umpire and his decision to replay a point, after an overrule by the Hawkeye.
It was thorough and intense, it needed a long discussion with the umpire as well as with the referee, but the decision stayed. Surprisingly, the Italian won the next point.
3) Fogna vs Lahyani
Mohamed Lahyani is one of the most respected umpires on the tour, given his great record and abilities on court. Apparently, this view is not exactly shared by the Italian, who had lots to complain in two occasions, up to the point of threatening the chair.
4) Serving to stay in the match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji-dZMRiLRQ
We have all seen players coming to a point where it seems that all they want to do is get out of court as soon as possible. But Fognini managed to take even such a bad attitude to a whole new level, so that Radek Stepanek needed to touch the ball not even once to close the match.
5) Two hot-heads
What happens when two storms hit the ground? This video basically shows the effects of that on a tennis court, even though, part of the crowd thought to be about to see a boxing match.
6) An all time Wimbledon classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1C16WzZAvY
Wimbledon, the temple of tradition: white outfits, funny hats, strawberries and cream, long queues…of course, the Italian had to demonstrate he is faithful to his traditions as well.
To be continued…
