Fabio Fognini swears at Shanghai crowd

Fabio Fognini swears at Shanghai crowd

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Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini always looks on the verge of an outburst on court. People have argued that is just the style of the effervescent Italian, but when he was upset in straight sets by a Chinese wild card at the Shanghai Masters, his behavior was quite unbelievable.

Having just gone down 7-6(5) 6-4 to world number 553 Wang Chuhan, number 17 Fognini could not control his frustration, first barging past his opponent after shaking his hand at the net. The frustration had been simmering the entire match, but so often you see a player compose himself for the handshake at the end. After an epic match point, Chuhan went deep and produced a rasping backhand to finish the match. Skip to 37 seconds to see Fognini barge past his opponent:

Fognini has already received a fine of $27,500 this season, for an outburst at Wimbledon. His encounter with Chuhan at the net would not have been sufficient to bring any more trouble in the Italian’s direction, but it was his action next that have people calling for Fognini to be banned from the tour.

As he exited the court he gave an obscene gesture to the Shanghai crowd, a show of petulance and disrespect that is very unlikely to go unpunished.

It represents a new low for Fognini, who so often is on the verge of breaking down during his matches. His attitude is no way on par with his ability and the tennis community will debate as to whether he is a talent that is worth enduring given some of his actions.

With an impressive career high of 13 in the world, it is hard to imagine Fognini being allowed back to play in Shanghai next year. The reaction towards the crowd, clearly fueled by the Italian’s disappointment at a shock defeat, will leave tournament organizers in a difficult position for the 2015 Shanghai Masters.

The immediate decision to make is whether Fognini should be suspended and fined for his behavior. With the season coming to a close, we could well have seen the last of Fabio Fognini on the tennis court in 2014.

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