Italy, known for its sporting prowess in soccer, cycling, motor racing and volleyball, but the nation has never taken the ATP Tour by storm, until now!
The Country hasn’t had a Grand Slam champion since Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open, before that it was Nicola Pietrangeli who claimed two majors in Paris in 1959-60.
Then there were dazzles of excitement from Corrado Barazzutti, who reached No.7 in the world in 1978. Only top 20 appearances by the likes of Omar Camporese, Andrea Gaudenzi, Renzo Furlan and Andreas Seppi would follow until the late 2010’s.
Seppi, the now 36-year-old veteran on the ATP Tour, was the great hope for the country for around a decade, with Simone Bolelli, Filippo Volandri and Potito Starace all struggling to make indents into the top echelon of men’s tennis.
However, all of that has changed. In 2019 an influx of Italians broke into the top hundred, two of them into the top 10, breaking the 41 year drought.
First it was the enigmatic but entertaining Fabio Fognini, who’s flare saw him take out a maiden Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo in April before moving into tenth place for the first time in June and becoming the oldest man to break the milestone for the first time since the rankings were established.
Fognini, who’s wife Flavia Pennetta is one of only two Italian women to claim a major (the other being Francesca Schiavone), reached a career high of nine, the third highest by an Italian at that point in time, before 23-year-old Matteo Berrettini hit stunning form, claiming two titles and reaching a maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open. He would finish the year at No.8 and would feature at the Nitto ATP Tour Finals - the first man from Italy to feature at the event since Barazzutti in 1978.
Berrettini has maintained his spot in the top 10 to start 2020, but it is the unfolding narratives below him that have made the green, white and red flag a sleeping giant of the ATP.
The country boasts a whopping eight men inside the top 100, only bettered by France (12) and Spain (9) with 2018 French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato and ATP title winner Paolo Lorenzi also on the precipice of breaking back in.
Among the contingent is 18-year-old Jannik Sinner, who finished 2019 strongly with a semifinals appearance in Antwerp before claiming the NextGen finals in Milan with an emphatic win over Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the final.
Sinner has maintained his form in 2020, beginning the new decade with a maiden Grand Slam main draw victory over Max Purcell before moving on to reach the quarterfinals at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam two weeks ago. He is touted as a future contender on the tour and from what we’ve seen so far it is hard to argue.
Furthermore, Italy saw another promising performance last week in Rio De Janeiro from Gianluca Mager, who after qualifying for the tournament stormed through to the final. The 25-year-old also brought home the upset of the season to date, with a 7-6(4) 7-5 win over Australian Open finalist and World Number 4 Dominic Thiem.
Mager would go on to lose a tight final to Chile’s Cristian Garin, but this performance will go down as one of the finest of 2020.
Andreas Seppi has continued to maintain his place with the elite of the sport, making yet another final in New York two weeks ago. Since his first week in the top 100 in 2005, Seppi has spent just a mere nine weeks outside the mark. A fine custodian for the sport in the nation, it will be a sad day when he hangs up the racket.
Lorenzo Sonego (46), Stefano Travaglia (84) and Salvatore Caruso (100) make up the other Italians at the top of the ATP, but there is one more prospect that must be noted. A young 17-year-old by the name of Lorenzo Musetti.
Musetti reached the third round of qualifying for the Australian Open before falling to Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor and consistent Challenger performances have seen him bring up his ranking from 360 to 311 in just two months. A truly tantalising prospect for the future.
With just one Davis Cup to Italy’s name in 1976, it seems that this gargantuan influx of talent could bring home a second in 2020, not to mention another name to be etched alongside Pietrangeli, Panatta, Schiavone and Pennetta as Italian Grand Slam champions.