BJK CUP WINNING CAPTAIN REVEALS SECRETS BEHIND ITALIAN TENNIS BOOM

Italy captain Tathiana Garbin lifts the 2024 BJK Cup trophy with pride. (Getty/Angel Martinez)

As Italian tennis continues to develop and prosper, Italy's Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup captain Tathiana Garbin shared her thoughts on why the European powerhouse is the gold standard in the sport.

Back-to-back Davis Cup winners (2024, 2025) and reigning BJK Cup champions, Italy's success is far from a fluke.

World No.1 Jannik Sinner leads the charge in men's tennis, accompanied by six other countrymen in the top-50, while world No.5 and two-time major finalist Jasmine Paolini is the example to follow on the women's tour.

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But Italy's fortunes have been years in the making, beginning from funding and investment at grassroots level and hosting more ITF and Challenger tournaments for homegrown prospects.

Garbin, a former world No.22, understands the processes implemented behind the scenes to achieve Italy's current status, having guided the women to BJK Cup glory last year.

With the Roman locals treating the Italian Open as their own Grand Slam, Garbin didn't hide the importance of hosting such a prestigious event.

"[It has been] a great tournament for many years, but this year especially, the site is much bigger and we enjoy not only the Pietrangeli stadium, but also the Stadio dei Marmi, which is another stadium, very big," she explained to The First Serve Live.

"But the most beautiful thing is the atmosphere of the people who finally enjoy tennis in their hometown."

When asked about Italy's triumph's on the world stage back in November, the 47-year-old emphasised the importance of unity and structure.

"Last year was a memorable year and difficult to challenge that [again], but we are here to be better," she said. "We built a system, and that's our secret maybe, but if you have very clear objectives to reach, then it's easy to do the right thing.

"What we improved the most is our coaches. At that level, we develop our project much better.

"They have more culture [when it comes to tennis], and it has been built in a way to find the talent in areas we couldn't reach. Now, every region [has] coaches that look for all the talent.

"On the junior side, we [try to develop] every skill in a mental way, physical way, technical way, and the area [of talent] is increasing so much."

With 56,000 spectators flocking into the Stadio Olimpico to watch Lazio take on Juventus at the same time Sinner was about to make his comeback from a three-month ban, football is a religion for the Italian people.

That said, the Italian Tennis Federation are trying to incorporate new ideas in an attempt to bridge the gap in participation and interest.

"Our President, Angelo Binaghi, is taking this as a challenge. He's trying to go around the schools and teach tennis, which is very helpful," Garbin said.

"For women, tennis was the fourth or fifth choice [in Italy] until four or five years ago, but this movement is increasing, and maybe we have more paths to pick some talent this way."

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