During the third round against Russian player Daniil Medvedev, Fognini was heard using an offensive Italian slur. He also slammed his racket on the court during multiple points of the match.
Shortly after the tournament, Fognini took to his Instagram stories and apologize for using the homophobic slur. “In today’s match I used a really stupid expression towards myself,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t want to offend anyone’s sensibilities.
I love the LGBT community and I apologized for the nonsense that came out of me.” He went on to say that the 37°C heat “affected his head” which resulted in him using the offensive word.