Brewing tensions boiled over at a tennis match Tuesday between Fabio Fognini and Aljaz Bedene, with the two needing to be separated.
Following Fognini’s 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 win in the second round of the Hamburg Open in Germany, Bedene accused Fognini of pointing at incorrect markings on the clay court when discussing line rulings with the chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte.
“Every time we play, you do something like this,” Bedene told Fognini, spurring Tourte to intervene.
The pair continued arguing, with Fognini ushering Bedene to his side of the court in order to show him the markings and disprove his accusation.
The contentious debate continued for over two minutes.
Fognini’s tennis career is stained by a checkered knack for controversy. He was removed from the 2017 U.S. Open after shouting obscenities at a female chair umpire. In 2019, Fognini sparred with Andy Murray, later calling the British tennis star “arrogant.”
At the 2021 Olympics, Fognini directed homophobic slurs towards himself during his loss to Daniil Medvedev.