Fabio Fognini lashes out on Italian Davis cup team captain Filippo Volandri after omission from the squad

Fognini expresses disappointment on being left out of the Italy Davis cup squad.

Fabio Fognini lashes out on Italian Davis cup team captain Filippo Volandri after omission from the squad

Fabio Fognini and Filippo Volandri (via IMAGO)

Italy is set to begin its 2023 Davis Cup campaign against the reigning champions Canada on Wednesday in the Italian city of Bologna. In a surprise announcement, the team would head into the campaign without the former world no.9 Fabio Fognini for the first time since 2007. Fognini, who was part of the provisional squad, has been left out of the finalized team made by captain Filippo Volandri after an apparent rift between the two.

Speaking about his omission from the squad, Fabio Fognini shared a long post on ‘X’ captioned, “Wearing the blue, feeling the warmth of the public, competing in packed arenas with our fans in tow even on unthinkable away games has always encouraged me to give 110%.” The Italian pro also shrugged off the rumors that he requested his omission from the squad to take some rest and recover.

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Fabio Fognini recently played in the Genoa Challengers. Speaking about his participation in the event, he said, “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.”

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Volandri responded to Fognini’s strong words in an interview with the Italian press agency ANSA. Speaking in his defense, 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.

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

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Filippo Volandri (Getty Images)

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 encounter 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.“

Italy will also be without the Wimbledon 2021 finalist Berrettini, who 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 U.S. Open would be added to the team as replacements and back-ups.

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