London, July 9: Former top-10 player Fabio Fognini announced his retirement from professional tennis on Wednesday at Wimbledon, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in a five-setter on Day 1 of the tournament last week.
The 38-year-old Italian pushed two-time defending champion Alcaraz for more than 4 1/2 hours before coming out on the wrong end of the 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 score in the fortnight’s first match at Centre Court.
That extended Fognini’s losing streak to 10 consecutive tour-level matches, including an 0-7 record in 2025. He previously had said he would end his career at the end of this season, but held a news conference at the All England Club on Wednesday to say he is done now.
“It’s the best way to say goodbye,” Fognini said.
This was the 63rd Grand Slam event for Fognini, whose best result was getting to the quarterfinals at the 2011 French Open, although he didn’t play in that round there because of an injured thigh, allowing his opponent, Novak Djokovic, to advance.
Fognini is the husband of 2015 U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta.
After the match against Alcaraz, Fognini asked for one of the Spaniard’s shirts as a gift for the oldest of his and Pennetta’s three children.
A self-described hothead, Fognini was well-known for some outlandish on-court behavior that repeatedly resulted in fines.
He was docked $3,000 at Wimbledon in 2019 for saying during a match that he wished “a bomb would explode at the club” and a then-record $27,500 in 2014 for a series of outbursts. He was put on a two-year probation by the Grand Slam Board in 2017 after insulting a female chair umpire at the U.S. Open and getting kicked out of that tournament’s doubles event.
Fognini leaves the sport with nine tour singles titles, the last at Monte Carlo in 2019. Later that year, he reached No. 9 in the ATP rankings, the first man from Italy in the top 10 since 1979.
He was ranked 138th before Wimbledon. (AP)
