Watch the Australian Open with live streams of every court at 9Now. Click here to start watching!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Fognini, now 33, has been in and around the top 10 for the best part of a decade. He's a supremely talented tennis player, so it's quite something that he's better known for his meltdowns than his Grand Slam triumphs, not that there hasn't been plenty.<\/p>\n The enigmatic Italian has been to the fourth round at the Australian Open<\/a> three times in his career. He was a quarter-finalist at the 2011 French Open and, despite being a clay court specialist, he has five third round appearances at Wimbledon and once made the fourth round at the US Open.<\/p>\n In some ways he's the Italian version of Nick Kyrgios. Some would think of him as a wasted talent. Gifted with the game to be a Grand Slam champion he has instead become a fireworks show. Loud, colourful and unpredictable but more often than not fizzles out before you hope or expect.<\/p>\n One thing's for sure, when he's on the court you can't look away.<\/p>\n As Sam Groth puts it, "he's Fabio".<\/p>\n Already he's drawn headlines at this tournament for an ugly clash with his countryman Salvatore Caruso<\/a>, who he outlasted in an extraordinary five set match then rubbed it in with some dismissive verbals as the pair met at the net for the handshake.<\/p>\n Caruso was unimpressed with Fognini's insistence that his opponent was "lucky" – a word he apparently uttered consistently in Italian with a bit of salt and pepper – through the match as Caruso painted the lines with his ground strokes.<\/p>\n Fognini, unsure what all the fuss was about, actually had the gall to demand an apology for the suggestion that he was out of line. "He's Fabio" after all.<\/p>\n So it's fair to say the last local hope in the men's draw will have a fair bit on his plate when he takes the court against Fognini tonight.<\/p>\n "He's crazy talented but you never know which Fabio's going to turn up and I think that's one thing; it's the unknown with him when he turns up, you don't know what you're going to get," Groth told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n "He could turn up and play unbelievable tennis, I mean the guy's still the 16th<\/sup> seed here for a reason. His best tennis is incredible. But his best tennis is reliant on him not being an absolute nutter on the day."<\/p>\n The comical finish to Fognini's second round match on Thursday night is far from the only time his wild personality has drawn the spotlight in Melbourne.<\/p>\n![\"Angry](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/02\/342058\/pickerImage.jpg\")
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