French tennis fans particularly appreciated the scene.
Monday March 25, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, led 3-6, 4-5, saved 7 match points against the Italian Brancaccio, before winning 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 under the ovation from the public in the first round of the Naples Challenger.
An attitude which the tennis player, originally from the city, did not like and which he openly denounced in a message on his Instagram account.
Born in Torre del Greco, a suburb of Naples, logic would have dictated that the local would be strongly supported by its public.
This was without counting on the numerous sports bettors in the stands, who, given the ATP ranking of the two tennis players (160th against 321st), placed massive bets on the Frenchman's victory.
“Ignorant, useless and shameful people who ruin such a beautiful sport just to win bets and bills”
Raul Brancaccio
In his long message to these pseudo supporters, the Italian announces both his patriotism and his disgust.
“I am proud to be a native of Coral, born and raised in this region (...).
But forgive me for telling you that I am happy to no longer live there, because you are the example of an ignorant people,”
he says.
Faced with this situation, many Italian tennis players came to support such as Luca Nardi (96th in the world), Andrea Vavassori (148th), and Salvatore Caruso (339th).