By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Fabio Fognini has been provisionally suspended for two Grand Slam tournaments and fined $96,000 for his vile US Open outburst.
Photo credit: Swiss Open Gstaad
Fabio Fognini will pay a major price for his US Open meltdown.
The 30-year-old Fognini has been provisionally suspended for two Grand Slam tournaments and fined $96,000 for his vile rant at Swedish chair umpire Louise Engzell during his US Open opening-round loss to compatriot Stefano Travaglia.
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The Grand Slam board, which establishes and enforces rules for the four majors, found Fognini guilty of “aggravated behavior and conduct contrary to the integrity of the game.”
One of the two majors Fognini will miss must be the US Open though that bad will only be enforced if Fognini commits another Grand Slam major offense during the next two years. If Fognini stays out of trouble and does not commit a major offense during the next two years his $96,000 fine will be halved.
"Mr. Fognini accepts and will not appeal this decision and he has expressed remorse for his admitted misconduct," the Grand Slam board said in a statement. "He has confidence that he will meet the conditions necessary to reduce his financial penalty and to lift his Grand Slam tournament suspensions in the future."
The then 26th-ranked Italian erupted during his 6-4, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-0 US Open opening-round loss repeatedly spewing insulting language at Engzell, which was picked up by on-court microphones.
Fognini was hit with three separate unsportsmanlike conduct fines by the US Open, incurring a total fine of $24,000 and bounced for his bad behavior.
Last month, Fognini took to twitter to issue an apology calling his meltdown "a very bad day."
"First of all I would like to apologize to you fans, to the referee for what happened," Fognini wrote. "It was just a very bad day, but it did not forgive my behavior in the match.
"Although I’m a hot-head—and though I’ve been right in most circumstances—I was wrong. But in the end it’s only a tennis game.”
Fognini will face world No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Rolex Masters tomorrow.
Asked his reaction to the Fognini decision during the Flushing Meadows major, three-time US Open champion Nadal wondered what took officials so long to suspend Fognini, who played a pair of doubles matches before being bounced out of the US Open for his tirade.
"Of course is not a positive thing," Nadal said when asked his reaction to the Fognini suspension. "Of course if you are not doing the right things on the court, of course you need to be in some way affected, no?
"But at the same time is true that things can be made happen earlier because I believe that he played two matches after that match, two doubles matches. If they want to suspend him, will be much better to do it immediately, not three days later or four days later, because then he was here playing for a few days. Now he is out already winning two matches.
"I think is not the ideal situation. Probably something that will go immediately to check it, and if he deserve a suspension, he take it, and if he don't deserve, don't take it."
Informed officials may have been waiting to translate Fognini's outburst, which was captured on court-side microphones, Nadal replied "It takes four days for that translation? I don't think so."