Fognini thanks Sinner: "Jannik is bringing an incredible passion for the sport back to Italy".

Fabio Fognini is not dead. At 37, the whimsical Italian is still pulling off some notable coups, as evidenced by his victory over Ruud (6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3) in the second round of Wimbledon.

Beaten slightly against the run of play by Roberto Bautista Agut (7-6, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4), Fognini was understandably disappointed, but he also made a point of addressing the current world number 1: Jannik Sinner.

The veteran tennis player, who has long been the driving force behind Italian tennis, thanked Sinner for what he saw as the Italian public's renewed interest in the sport:

"Jannik (Sinner) is bringing an incredible passion for the sport back to Italy. Just think: after 20 years of talking about Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, everyone is now talking about an Italian.

Or rather, Italians. So it's thanks to Jannik Sinner that Italy is no longer just interested in soccer."