Fiery Italian stars almost come to blows in a heated confrontation at the Australian Open
Fiery Italian stars almost come to blows in a heated confrontation where they shout and point fingers at each other over the net after marathon Australian Open match
- Italian players embroiled in ugly on-court spat following Australian Open clash
- Fabio Fognini’s clash with Salvatore Caruso soon escalated into shouting match
- The ugly scenes were sparked by Fognini, who felt that his opponent got lucky
- Fognini won the five set epic and now faces Aussie Alex de Minaur in third round
Two Italian tennis stars have faced off in a fiery confrontation that almost led to a fistfight after their Australian Open showdown.
World No.16 Fabio Fognini and countryman Salvatore Caruso had to be physically separated by match officials following their thrilling five set epic at Melbourne Park.
The drama unfolded on the court moments after the match as they came face to face at the net on John Cain Arena.
The pair exchanged a brief handshake before things quickly erupted into an angry war of words over the net.
Fabio Fognini (left) and Salvatore Caruso (right) had to be separated by a match official following their Australian Open showdown.
The shouting match continued for several minutes after the pair returned to their benches.
The feuding pair continued to rant at each other in Italian as they wagged their fingers and gestured angrily at each other.
The pair were eventually separated by the supervisor as Caruso collected his gear and left the court as tensions continued to threaten to boil over.
The ugly scenes were sparked by Fognini, who felt that his opponent got lucky.
Italy’s Salvatore Caruso originally greeted compatriot Fabio Fognini with a handshake(pictured) before things escalated downhill into an ugly war of words
A fired up Fabio Fognini (left) continued to argue with fellow countryman Salvatore Caruso (right) as his dejected opponent left the court
‘You have been f**king lucky, you should apologise, I didn’t disrespect you until now,’ a furious Fognini confronted his opponent.
‘You won four identical lucky points.’
A bewildered Caruso objected to his opponent’s accusations.
‘What are you talking about? I never said a word during all the match’ he said.
Fognini fired back: So why are you breaking my balls now? I said you have been lucky, if I’m wrong saying it, I’m wrong. Don’t attack me.
Caruso: I didn’t attack you. I’m telling you it’s not the way to behave because I didn’t tell you a single world. Let’s say I didn’t expect that from you.’
Salvatore Caruso (top) and compatriot Fabio Fognini continued to clash after they returned to their benches
The confrontation overshadowed Fognini’s 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(12) win to progress to the third round, where he’ll take on Australian Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
It’s not the first time Fognini has been embroiled in controversy at the Australian Open.
Fognini ripped his shirt off in protest and was docked a point for refusing to play during an ill-tempered fourth round loss to Tenys Sandgren that the American described as a ‘war’ at last year’s grand slam.
Sparks flew after Fognini protested a foot-fault call and stormed off court for seven minutes.
The ugly altercation between Fabio Fognini (left) and Salvatore Caruso (right) overshadowed five set epic as a match officials tries to intervene
Sandgren accused the umpire of lacking the courage to penalise Fognini, who was then docked a point penalty for refusing to play after being broken in his first service game of the second set.
Fognini, complaining of blisters, ripped off his shirt and protested about that call to no avail before going down 4-0.
The Italian won the next five games as the opponents continued to snipe at each other across the net.
Sandgren eventually won the match to book a quarter final berth.
Fabio Fognini (left) felt his opponent Salvatore Caruso (right) got lucky, despite the win
