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Fabio Fognini is tennis’s resident bad boy, and he staked his claim one final time as his 2014 concluded with a disappointing loss to world No. 176 Lucas Pouille at the BNP Paris Masters in Paris on Wednesday.

Video: Darian King's Bizarre Racquet-Throwing Incident in Charlottesville Ends in DQ

Except this time there was something different about Fognini’s on-court shenanigans. This time, umpire Carlos Bernardes, an affable fellow and quality individual by all accounts, gave Fognini a taste of his own medicine.

The whole incident stems from a bit of confusion on the second-set tiebreaker in which Pouille saves a match point with a service winner and Fognini gestures to Bernardes about the possibility of challenging the call. It’s hard to tell if Fognini is acknowledging that Pouille’s serve was good, or if he was attempting to challenge the call.

In any case, play continues, and when Pouille wins the next point Fognini hauls off and smashes his racquet to the ground, which sends the crowd into a frenzy as Fognini berates Bernardes.

But here’s the kicker: After double-faulting on match point (of course it would end this way), Fognini goes to shake Bernardes’ hand and the umpire refuses (though eventually he does give in and shake with Fognini after much pleading from the Italian, which is hilarious to see)!






As you can see in the video above, the two spent a good two minutes discussing their issues and walked off the court on decent terms (it appears that way, at least). But kudos to Bernardes for taking a stand against Fognini’s tiring antics. It’s something that the ATP can’t seem to accomplish, as Fognini has been handed nothing but a slap on the wrist in 2014 for a litany of antics that has basically made not only the Italian, but the ATP look a little foolish.

And thus ends the most recent campaign of Fabio Fognini, a season that at one point looked like it might end up with a celebration, as Fognini was flirting with becoming the first Italian to reach the top ten in over 30 years for a bit, but eventually ended up in disappointment.

Were all the laughs worth it?

Photo Source: Twitter user Alexandre Cossenza

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