'Disrespectful Of My History': Fognini Enraged By Italian Davis Cup Team Snub

Saturday, 09 September 2023 at 09:15

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byEvita Mueller

Fabio Fognini was not nominated for the Italian Davis Cup team, and he's quite upset about it as he disclosed on social media.

Fognini has been a stable player for over a decade and played for Italy regularly. The ATP veteran hasn't been at his peak in recent years, but he's still capable of producing some 'throwback' performances. On top of that, the Italian team has some big roster problems as well.

Jannik Sinner withdrew earlier this week, and Matteo Berrettini added his name to the list as well. That leaves a few open spaces, though there are plenty of viable candidates, such as Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Sonego, and Matteo Arnaldi, who broke out at the US Open recently.

Fognini is not a better player than those players right now, but he's got far more experience and is serviceable in doubles, yet he wasn't nominated. The Italian wasn't happy about the exclusion, sharing his experience on social media platform Instagram.

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Wearing the blue, feeling the warmth of the public, competing in packed arenas with our fans in tow even on unthinkable away games has always encouraged me to give 110%. And although the away games were tough and the season was very long, with ranking goals to be achieved, I never had any doubts: playing for Italy is the most rewarding thing in the world for an athlete and especially for me.

On the eve of Davis' umpteenth challenge, I find myself, in spite of myself, out of the squad. I read in some press organs that I would have decided and requested to take a step back, to rest and catch my breath. Fake and itchy!

On Monday, while I was in Genoa, the captain's call came to me: suddenly I no longer fit into the plans, without justifiable explanations and in ways that I didn't agree with, disrespectful of my history and my Italian past, because until lastly I was informed that I would be in the squad and available to take to the field and for this reason I decided to train and play the Challenger to the best of my strength to be ready and available.