Italy’s Fognini fined $27,500 at Wimbledon
Fabio Fognini of Italy celebrates winning a game against Tim Puetz of Germany during their match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. AP
LONDON — Fabio Fognini of Italy was fined a total of $27,500 by Wimbledon yesterday for outbursts during his first-round victory earlier in the week.
Fognini, who is seeded 16th at the Grand Slam tournament, was docked twice for unsportsmanlike conduct — one penalty carrying a $20,000 price tag, the other $5,000 — and lost another $2,500 for what was termed a visible obscenity.
The punishment was announced two days after Fognini’s first-round match.
Fognini can appeal.
“They have rules here, different from other (tournaments), that need to be followed,” Fognini said after beating Tim Puetz of Germany 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the second round yesterday.
He spoke at a news conference that was held before the fines were announced.
When the subject of Fognini’s behavior Monday was first broached with him yesterday, he said he didn’t want to talk about it.
“At the moment I don’t care about that,” Fognini said. “I’m focused on the tournament.”
Fognini has a reputation for being volatile on court, and an Italian reporter asked whether he feels as if he is under special scrutiny from officials.
“I am kept track of, the way (top-10 player Ernests) Gulbis is, because we’re two hotheads,” Fognini said.
On Monday, Fognini was assessed a point penalty for throwing his racket, directed anger at the chair umpire and got into an argument with another tournament official who was at the match. Eventually, Fognini came back from two sets down to beat Alex Kuznetsov of the United States 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 9-7.
The fines will come out of Fognini’s prize money.
He is already assured of earning at least 71,000 pounds — which is about $120,000 — by getting to the third round.
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