A chair umpire at the German Open was forced to separate Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini and Slovenian Aljaz Bedene following their first round match on Tuesday over what appeared to be an issue about a ball marking.
Fognini earned his 400th win on the ATP Tour with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 win over Bedene, but when the two players met at the net to shake hands, Bedene exchanged some final words with Fognini.
Fabio Fognini of Italy in action during day four of the Hamburg European Open 2022 at Rothenbaum on July 19, 2022 in Hamburg, Germany. (Alexander Scheuber/Getty Images)
"Every time we play, you do something like this," a visibly frustrated Bedene was overheard saying.
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The umpire stepped down from her chair and got in between the two, trying to escort Fognini away from the verbal altercation, but they carried on.
Fognini and Bedene walked backed over to the Italian’s side of the court where Bedene reportedly accused him of pointing to the wrong ball markings in the clay to be checked in favor of him.
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Fabio Fognini, of Italy, in action during day four of the Hamburg European Open 2022 at Rothenbaum on July 19, 2022 in Hamburg, Germany. (Alexander Scheuber/Getty Images)
The dispute went on for nearly two minutes.
Fognini is no stranger to controversy. In 2017, he was suspended from the U.S. Open for unsportsmanlike conduct after using misogynistic language towards a female umpire in the first round. He was then fined in 2019 for comments made during an outburst at Wimbledon.
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Fabio Fognini, of Italy, reacts during a third round men's tennis match against Daniil Medvedev, of the Russian Olympic Committee, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Most recently, he apologized following the 2020 Summer Olympics after he used homophobic slurs during his loss to Daniil Medvedev.
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