After a wild and woolly victory over Salvatore Caruso on Thursdsay night in Melbourne, Fabio Fognini and his adversary had a heated argument and it looked like they might get into a physical altercation until cooler heads prevailed.
The incident happened after the handshake, moments after Fognini had complete a dramatic 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(12) victory when Caruso complained to Fognini about his lack of respect.
Partial video below:
Fognini’nin çok zor durumdan çevirdiği maçtan sonra ortam gerildi. Caruso’nun son dönüşüyle artık iş daha da büyüyecek sandım ama olaysız dağıldılar. pic.twitter.com/cUbzPIHHZ8
— Uygar Karaca (@uygarkaraca) February 11, 2021
Fognini’s level of anxiety grew throughout the match tiebreak and he questioned several close calls by shots. To be fair, Caruso was finding the lines quite a bit, but Caruso really became upset when Fognini called him lucky.
It should be noted: Fognini saved a match point at 11-10 in the breaker and hit one of the most clutch backhands we’ve ever seen at 12-12 to earn his fourth match point, which he finally converted.
Here is the backhand we refer to:
This shot: https://t.co/lY6t9JNiP9
— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) February 11, 2021
After the handshake, Caruso told Fognini that he hadn’t said a single word all match but that he didn’t expect the disrespect from him. This was the first all-Italian men’s singles match in Australian Open history, and it lived up to the hype.
Fognini didn’t want to hear it from Caruso, and the two had many words in an altercation that lasted over a minute.
Here, thanks to Twitter, is a transcript of what was said.
Full transcript of the Fognini Caruso exchange after the match was over pic.twitter.com/zSl62j5VwQ
— enrico maria riva (@enricomariariva) February 11, 2021