Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini apologized for yelling at himself with an anti-gay slur during a loss in the Olympic tennis tournament, ESPN.com reported.
Fognini used the offensive Italian word repeatedly during a three-set loss to Russian Olympic Committee player Daniil Medvedev in the third round on July 28.
Fogniniwho has been volatile on the court in the past, including a 2017 incident in which he insulted a chair umpirewrote in an Instagram story (on a rainbow background) that the extremely hot conditions "affected his head" and that he "used a really stupid expression toward myself."
"Obviously, I didn't want to offend anyone's feelings," Fognini added. "I love the LGBT community and I apologize for the nonsense that I let out."