Fabio Fognini was disqualified for “verbal abuse” at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The Italian (33 years and 27th in the world) I would have insulted a linesman. The main referee spoke with him and, after listening to his assistant, ordered the expulsion of Fognini, who he lost 0-6 and 4-4 against the Spanish Bernabé Zapata.
The Italian, after greeting Zapata, hit the network cable with his racket angry. Addressing the stands, he shouted: “I did not say anything!”. Zapata will face Roberto Bautista in the second round.
“I was here to play tennis, to fight the game even if it was losing, it doesn't matter. But what they did to me today was something inexplicable. I'm going to investigate it. I paid for something I didn't do. It's the first thing everyone should know, “declared the ninth-seeded player after his exclusion from Barcelona.
Fognini, in a recent interview with AS, acknowledged that his character had sometimes played tricks on him. “I have paid for what I did wrong, but I will not regret anything,” he said about it.