Fabio Fognini was overheard wishing a bomb was dropped on Wimbledon during his third-round defeat to unseeded Tennys Sandgren.
The No12 seed was playing on Court 14 on a busy Saturday with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Johanna Konta all also on the schedule.
Already one set down, Fognini had to take a medical timeout after drawing blood having punched his racquet to the floor.
Shortly afterwards he reportedly said in Italian: "Is it fair to play here? Damn English, really. Damned, really.
"I wish a bomb would explode on this club. A bomb should explode here."
Speaking to reporters after the match, Fognini said: "Most of the time when you're on court, you're frustrated. For sure I was not happy about my performance today because I was knowing I have a lot to win in this case, because I think I have a good chance to win.
"Something happened on court. If somebody feels offended, I say sorry. No problem."
Fognini has a history of controversial comments having been kicked out of the US Open two years ago.
A Swedish umpire, Louise Engzelle, reported he called her, in Italian, "troia” and "bocchinara" which translates as "whore" and "cocksucker".
He was subsequently removed from the tournament, fined close to £100,000 and handed a suspended suspension for two Grand Slam tournaments until 2020.
