Fabio Fognini decided to end his 21-year professional tennis career earlier this year.
Fognini reached a career-high ranking of world number nine, and won nine ATP titles, before officially calling it a day at 38 years old.
The final match of the Italian’s career came at Wimbledon, with Fognini taking Carlos Alcaraz to five sets.
With Fognini now three months into retirement, his Grand Slam-winning wife has revealed what could be next for him.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesFlavia Pennetta reveals that she thinks Fabio Fognini would want to coach in the future
Fognini is not the only successful tennis player in his family, with his wife of nine years Flavia Pennetta a Grand Slam champion in both singles and doubles.
When reflecting on her Grand Slam singles victory at the US Open in an interview with La Gazetta dello Sport, Pennetta was also asked about her recently retired husband and whether he would consider coaching in the future.
Pennetta responded by suggesting that she thinks Fognini will at some point, but will probably need some more time away from the tour first.
“Yes. But I think he still needs some time to detach himself and understand if he really wants to go down that path,” said Pennetta. “It’s not easy, you first have to ‘kill’ the player and then be reborn as a coach: the dynamics change completely.”
From Fognini’s many years of experience playing professional tennis, he would likely have a lot of knowledge to provide players on either the ATP or WTA Tour.
Flavia Pennetta explains why she has never wanted to coach
Pennetta, who is 43 years old, has been retired from tennis for significantly longer than Fognini.
After winning her maiden Grand Slam singles title at the 2015 US Open, Pennetta announced in her on-court interview that she would be retiring from tennis that year.
Since retiring from tennis 10 years ago, Pennetta has fulfilled media duties as both a commentator and pundit, but never as a coach.
When questioned over whether she would ever turn to coaching, Pennetta appeared pretty certain that was not in her career path on a full-time basis.
“Not seriously. I like to play every now and then, give advice, but I don’t see myself as a full-time coach,” added Pennetta. “I’ve found my balance that way.”
While Pennetta is not planning to sit in the players’ box as a coach anytime soon, it seems as though tennis fans should be on the lookout for Fognini’s next career move.