Fognini is cryptic but at the same time very clear: the answer is all in that message launched via Instagram.
There is only one person, only one, who might not have rejoiced that the Italian national team won the Davis Cup. And not because he wasn’t happy about it, mind you, but because the player in question was the big loser of the now archived edition.
We’re talking about Fabio Fognini, of course, who was not called up for either the group stage or the Finals in Malaga. Captain Filippo Volandri, with whom a heated discussion has since ensued, did not really feel like giving him confidence: “His performance in the last three months,” he had said last summer, to justify the decision to leave him at home, “did not meet the criteria that, in my opinion, must be met to obtain a Davis call-up. The Sanremese had not liked it and had not kept it to himself, quite the contrary. He had polemicized on social media, in the public eye. Which he did even during the final itself, rekindling the spotlight on an issue that for him, evidently, is far from resolved.
It is unknown, at this point, what will become of him and his future in the Azzurro. Although, according to Volandri, the federation is reportedly trying hard to settle these ugly differences: “For a month we have been trying to meet,” said the captain, “but we have not succeeded. We hope to do so and resolve this situation for the good of the team. “
Fognini, coded message intrigues fans
No matter how good Volandri & Co.’s intentions may be, it is not certain that Fognini is willing to forget the treatment he received. “My history does not deserve it,” the tennis player had thundered, referring to his exclusion and nonconvocation at the group stage.
(Instagram)
Ed was also cryptic about his future when Simone Bolelli, his partner-in-crime in doubles, sent him a message via the small screen immediately after his victory in Malaga. “To my brother, to Fabio Fogna who I’m sorry is not here with us today,” these were the words of the national team veteran, “And I spent all my Davis years with him. All my 15 years I spent with him and so a special thanks to Fabio as well. Today I saw that he won the Challenger so I really wish him to return to his level, which he deserves. I want to send him a huge hug.”
Fognini responded to him via social media, but it is not easy to read between the lines and understand what he really meant. “Thank you Kikk,” he wrote at the bottom of a photo taken on TV while Bolelli was being interviewed, “everything will be back where it belongs. That he is hopeful about a possible reconciliation with the Federation? Or that he alludes to something else, something we ignore? We will find out, for sure, in the near future.