Fognini defaulted in Barcelona second round

Fabio Fognini was defaulted from his match for the first time in his career on Wednesday in Barcelona against Bernabe Zapata Miralles for unsportsmanlike conduct, i.e. “verbal abuse of an official.” The Italian claims he doesn’t understand why he was defaulted, claiming “I paid for something that I didn’t do. That’s the first and clear thing that everybody has to know.”

While Fognini swears by his innocence, this decision certainly doesn’t shock longtime tennis fans, as Fognini has a history of jawing with officials, and was fined $96,000 for sexist comments towards an official at the 2017 US Open.

It seems clear audio of Fognini’s comment on Wednesday does not exist, but he was defaulted after losing serve up 4-3 in the second set. It’s unlikely his penalty had anything to do with this close call, as the Zapata Miralles forehand landed smack-dab on the line.

Prior to that point, Fognini received a foot-fault violation on his first serve, which is almost certainly where he committed the code violation. As we’ve seen in the past, players don’t care for foot-fault calls on pivotal points.

There is no audio, but the camera cut to the linesman after the foot-fault call, which leads us to believe that Fognini’s outburst was directed at the official who called the foot-fault. Fognini is the 10th player to be defaulted at ATP tour-level and Grand Slams (main-draw singles only).