Fabio Fogini has completed a 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 9-7 win over Gael Monfils in the second round of the French Open, with the players coming back after the match was stopped overnight at 5-5 in the fifth set because of darkness.
Fognini had a lengthy argument with the referee after officials decided to continue play at 4-4 on Wednesday night, while the sparse crowd put up a noisy protest for the match to carry on. On Thursday, both players gave their account of the wild events the night before.
"Fabio said, 'I want to play,'" related Monfils. "I said, 'I don't mind.'... When he turned to his camp, his camp said 'No, no, no.' And that's when he started talking. But you can't say yes twice and then not play, because then it would be like coaching. And then after that I don't know what they were talking about.
"When it was 4-4, I wanted to continue because I had made a special physical and mental effort before and I felt good. There was a breakpoint when it was 5-4 and an incredible passing shot at night. Incredible. Incredible.
"That's when I sat. I was totally lost. It was a mythic type of match. I thought... 'Nightmare. I can't see anything. I want this to stop,'" continued Monfils, who had trouble walking towards the end of Wednesday's encounter because of pain in his legs.
The players went off the court at 5-5, with Fognini still angry about events. "In the lockerroom he insulted everybody for 30 minutes," said Monfils.
Fognini said his issue had been how long officials would allow play to continue. "I said, 'Well, for me that's okay, two games is okay,'" he said. "If I lose this, he's going to serve for the match, and then what's going to happen then? We are going to stop now, or will we continue until who knows?'
There were still signs of lingering tension on Thursday. "It's Fabio," said Monfils. "There's not much I can say about him. Each sportsman behaves differently. It's how he is. It's okay for him. He won the match."