Italian tennis star Fabio Fognini said “a bomb should explode” at Wimbledon in an astonishing rant as he went down to a third-round defeat to America’s Tennys Sandgren.
Apparently furious at seeing the match moved to Court 14, the Italian hothead was heard lashing out at organizers as he waited for the umpire to rule on a line call challenge.
“It's fair to play here? Damned English, really. Damned, really,” the 32-year-old fumed in Italian.
“I wish a bomb would explode on this club. A bomb should explode here,” he added.
Fognini went out in straight sets to Sandgren, 6-3 7-6 6-3, as the American set up a fourth-round meeting with countryman Sam Querrey.
Fognini also lashed out during the match by slamming his racket to the floor, bloodying his knuckles in the process.
The Italian later apologized for the outburst and his bomb remarks, according to the BBC.
"Something happened on court. If somebody feels offended, I say sorry. No problem," he said.
Reporter Ben Rothenburg later pointed out that Wimbledon had in fact been bombed by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Italian world number 10 Fognini is no stranger to controversy, and was thrown out of the US Open back in 2017 after abusing a female umpire, allegedly branding her a “whore” and “c*cksucker.”