{"id":228866,"date":"2025-07-01T08:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T08:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228866\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T08:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T08:50:11","slug":"wimbledon-star-beaten-in-first-round-responds-after-bbc-pundit-tells-him-to-retire-immediately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228866\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon star beaten in first round responds after BBC pundit tells him to retire immediately"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fabio Fognini took reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz to the limit in their first round clash at Wimbledon, before the veteran Italian eventually fell to a five-set defeat\"FabioFabio Fognini of Italy acknowledges the crowd following defeat against Carlos Alcaraz(Image: 2025 Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Fabio Fognini made the most of his Wimbledon <\/a>farewell as he took champion Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> to five sets underneath the baking Centre Court sun. And as he was urged to end his final season immediately by John McEnroe,<\/a> the Italian admitted he perhaps could call it a day straight away.<\/p>\n

On the hottest opening day in Wimbledon<\/a> history – as temperatures reachd ea sweltering 32 degrees – Alcaraz was almost caught cold by a 38-year-old who is due to retire at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The second seed eventually came through a marathon encounter 7-5 6-7 (5) 7-5 2-6 6-1 in an energy-sapping four hours and 37 minutes as the former world<\/a> No.9 rolled back the years.<\/p>\n

Fognini went through his array of flicks and tricks as he enjoyed what was his final appearance in SW19.<\/a> He almost embarked on a lap of honour after coming out on top in one mesmerising rally which left Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, leaning on his towel box gasping for breath.<\/p>\n

And after tennis icon McEnroe<\/a> stated this could well be the perfect moment to end his career, Fognini appeared in two minds.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Wimbledon star asks security to eject ‘dangerous’ fan as she was left in tears<\/a>READ MORE: Wimbledon stars make feelings clear on 147 year change – “I think that kills it”<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s tough for me to speak, believe me,” said Fognini after his encounter with Alcaraz. “But, yeah, I think this is probably the best way to say [goodbye] to Wimbledon, and maybe to tennis.<\/p>\n

“That’s what I’m thinking now. I am happy, for sure. I have a lot of emotions coming to my mind.”<\/p>\n

Fognini, whose best run at a major came in a run to the 2011 French Open quarter-finals and is one of very few players to hold multiple victories over Rafael Nadal on clay, has announced he plans to retire at the end of this year – although he has not yet said exactly when he will walk away.<\/p>\n

McEnroe shared his thoughts on the BBC<\/a>, revealing that he has actually spoken to the Italian’s wife about his tennis retirement. He said: “This was the perfect ending for Fognini. Luckily for Alcaraz, towards the end of the fourth set, the crowd realised that Fognini was playing unbelievable.<\/p>\n

\"FabioFabio Fognini’s Wimbledon career is at an end(Image: 2025 Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“Carlos looked more tired than Fognini even though there’s a 16-year age gap! What in the hell is going on here? So the crowd started rallying behind Alcaraz and that picked him up a little bit. I almost hope that [Fognini] doesn’t play anymore because I’m not sure he can play any better than that.<\/p>\n

“I played Flavio Panetta in seniors mixed doubles at the French [Open] and she thinks it’s time for Fabio to be at home more with the kids. I think she is ready for her husband to be home more.”<\/p>\n

While Fognini’s wife may want him to retire, Alcaraz is less certain that the Italian should be walking away from the game.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know why this is his last Wimbledon because with the level he is playing he can play for another three or four years,” said Alcaraz. “Fabio is a great player and has shown his level and talent throughout his career.<\/p>\n

“I’m sad it’s probably his last Wimbledon but I’m happy to have shared the court with him.”<\/p>\n

Alcaraz will face British qualifier Oliver Tarvet in round two and added: \u201cI saw his name when he qualified for the first time, he\u2019s in the second round so he\u2019s at a level. I will have to bring my best tennis to the match.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fabio Fognini took reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz to the limit in their first round clash at Wimbledon, before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[90052,192,72116,13793,4296,79,1068,16,15,5068],"class_list":{"0":"post-228866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-age-gap","9":"tag-bbc","10":"tag-fabio-fognini","11":"tag-john-mcenroe","12":"tag-rafael-nadal","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tennis","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wimbledon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114777124075054603","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}