LONDON (AP) — Fabio Fognini’s tumultuous week at Wimbledon ended with a five-set defeat to Kevin Anderson. He didn’t go out quietly.
The fiery Italian, who was fined $27,500 by Wimbledon for unsportsmanlike conduct earlier this week, added more controversy Friday by criticizing the all-white clothing policy at the All England Club following his 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 loss.
“The only things I don’t like are the rules, Wimbledon’s rules, the white color,” Fognini said Friday in his post-match press conference. “Today I crashed the rackets against my knee because the court is really soft and I can damage it a lot.”
The 16th-seeded Italian also criticized Wimbledon organizers’ decision to schedule his match on a small court, suggesting that he was punished twice for his first-round fine.
“It’s strange because in the first round (against a qualifier) I play on Court Number 18,” he said. “Today I am 16 and he is 20 and we play on Court 17. But I don’t really care.”
Fognini said he won’t change his on-court demeanor.
“I will always be the same, sorry guys,” he said.
— By Samuel Petrequin — https://twitter.com/sampetrequin
___
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was on court for the fifth consecutive day when he beat Jimmy Wang on Friday at Wimbledon.
The 14th-seeded Frenchman had his first two matches each completed over two days at the All England Club. He made sure he didn’t spend too much time on court Friday in the 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 win.
Tsonga, who set-up a fourth-round match with Novak Djokovic, said he had experienced more taxing schedules earlier in his career.
“I’ve done worse when I was playing in challenger tournaments,” Tsonga said. “Sometimes I was playing in two tournaments at the same time and I remember that I once played seven or eight matches in seven days, with three matches the same day at one point.”
Tsonga hit a woman in the chest during his match with Wang. After celebrating his win, he gave her his towel to make amends.
— By Samuel Petrequin — https://twitter.com/sampetrequin
___
WIMBLEDON GOES TO THE DOGS: Wimbledon went to the dogs for a few hours Friday morning when members of the London Metropolitan Police dog support unit did a routine sweep for explosives at the All England Club.
At least three dogs and their handlers did a thorough check of the hedges and a fence line near an entrance where tournament transport vehicles deliver players to the club throughout the day. Later they checked out the media center and dining area.
One dog — a Labrador retriever — wore a green shoulder collar with the words “Explosives Check” written on it.
While the dogs did their sweeps, Caroline Wozniacki arrived in a courtesy car for the first match on Court 3 against Ana Konjuh while former American player Lindsay Davenport, whose 1999 Wimbledon championship was among her three Grand Slam singles titles, juggled two coffee cups as she walked along the driveway in a tracksuit.
Former No. 1 Davenport, who was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame earlier this year and will be inducted in July, is here doing television commentary.
— By Dennis Passa — http://twitter.com/DennisPassa
___
Wimbledon Watch follows tennis’ grass-court Grand Slam tournament in London as seen by journalists from The Associated Press. It will be updated throughout the day.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
