WATCH: Fognini requests umpire to give him code violation in Sofia

| by Alfredo Bassanelli

A unique scene happened at the Sofia Open when Fabio Fognini requested umpire Aurelie Tourte to give him a code violation.

The Italian is one of the veterans on the ATP Tour, yet, it's still a problem for him to control his emotions every now and then. At the 2022 Sofia Open, Fognini faced a challenging draw, as in the opening round of the tournament, he took on Australia's Aleksandar Vukic.

The Australian can have some inspired performances, and he was hoping for one of those in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in the Bulgarian capital.

With the scoreboard showing 5-5 in the opening set of the match, a very unique situation occurred. Fognini was serving, leading 15-0, when he committed a double fault, which could have proved costly.

When his opponent returned the ball to the other side of the court, the Italian slammed it with full power, as it landed somewhere in the stands. It left everyone a little bit shocked, probably also the umpire, Aurelie Tourte.

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The French umpire didn't immediately give Fognini a code violation, as he was already preparing to serve for the next point, and surprised by this, the Italian player himself decided to make things right, asking the umpire to give him the violation, saying: "Give me, give me."

After asking for the second time, umpire Tourte obliged and gave him a warning for ball abuse. Fognini would later face a break point in that game, but saved that to force a tie-break.

Eventually, he wasn't able to overcome his opponent as Vukic went on to win the match 7-6(11), 7-5 to reach the second round of the 2022 Sofia Open. On the other hand, Fognini still has a doubles tournament to play as he's teaming up with fellow compatriot Simone Bolelli.

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