WATCH: Fabio Fognini follows Novak Djokovic on imitating Ben Shelton’s ‘phone celebration’ to send a STERN message to Team Italy captain for not selecting him for the Davis Cup

Former world no. 9 Fabio Fognini defeated Brazilian player Thiago Monteiro in straight sets to book a spot in the finals of the Genoa Challenger tournament. The Italian pro pulled off the trending dialed-in celebration in an apparent message to the Italian Davis Cup team captain, Filippo Volandri, after clinching the match point. The celebration, made popular by Ben Shelton at the US Open, was used by Novak Djokovic after he won the encounter between the pair.

Fognini, who was initially part of the provisional Italy squad for the Davis Cup, has been left out of the finalized team made by captain Filippo Volandri after an apparent rift between the two. The team would head into the campaign without former World No. 9 Fabio Fognini for the first time since 2007. Volandri was against Fognini’s participation in the Genoa tournament.

In an interview with the Italian press agency ANSA, Volandri said, “He(Fognini) decided to put his recovery before anything else, including the national team, which is why he chose to play in Genoa, outdoors and on clay, in spite of a Davis who in Bologna it is played on hard and indoors.” Volandri added that Fognini’s fitness didn’t match the criteria set by the Italian team.

Speaking in his defense, Fognini shared a post on ‘X’ captioned, “It was a demanding and exhausting year, but regardless, I purposely decided to take part in the Genoa Open Challenger, to arrive ready and energized for the matches in Bologna, in a historically favorable context for me, beyond the surface.”

Italy is set to begin its 2023 Davis Cup campaign against the reigning champions Canada on Wednesday in the Italian city of Bologna.

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Filippo Volandri gives updates about the participation of Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini

Italy’s Davis Cup campaign suffered a major blow as star Italian Players Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini were forced to withdraw from the upcoming premier tennis team tournament.

There were rumors regarding Sinner giving the tournament a miss after a grueling round of 16 encounters against Alexander Zverev in the US Open. Sinner put the rumors to bed as he announced his withdrawal on the social media site ‘X’, “Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to recover after the tournaments in America and unfortunately I won’t be able to be part of the team in Bologna.”

“It is always an honor to play for our country and I am convinced that I will return to the national team soon,” Sinner added. Speaking about the Italian no.1’s decision, Italian national Davis Cup team captain Filippo Volandri said, “We wish Jannik a speedy recovery, we know how much he cares about the Davis Cup, he has already proved it.“

Berrettini was forced to withdraw from his second-round U.S. Open match against Arthur Rinderknech after sustaining an ankle injury due to a nasty fall. “Matteo was once again very unlucky, he had made himself completely available to us. He was looking forward to this commitment because he knew it would be good for him, we are also waiting for him for the next challenges,” Volandri said.

The Italian Tennis Federation announced that Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Sonego, Simone Bolelli, Andrea Vavassori, and Matteo Arnaldi, who reached the last 16 of the US Open, would be added to the team as replacements and back-ups.

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