CM – Italy’s new group of male tennis stars are all-court players

The Italian federation has relied heavily on statistical advisors to move on from the days when it was way below the baseline, preferring long rallies and rarely dangerous serves.

CAMEROON MAGAZINE - GM11/05/20214 Mins read53 Views

The Italian federation has relied heavily on statistical advisors to favor long rallies and rarely dangerous serves from the days when it was way below the baseline.

Published: May 11, 2021 3:11 PM |

Last updated: May 11, 2021 3:11 pm

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Jannik Sinner from Italy celebrates after the 6: 2, 6: 4 win against Ugo Humbert from France at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome. (Photo | AP)

ROM: Jannik Sinner feels just as comfortable on the hard courts in Miami as on the red sand of Rome, where he is supposed to face Rafael Nadal on Wednesday. Lorenzo Musetti modeled his all-court game after Roger Federer.

And Matteo « The Hammer » Berrettini has one of the greatest serve-forehand combinations in tennis. The Italian men who are starting to populate the top 100 of the ATP – currently 10 ranked that high, a national record arriving on time for this week’s Italian Open – are all-court players.

And one, who hasn’t had a Grand Slam individual champion for men for 45 years – since Adriano Panatta at the French Open 1976 (Italy’s women were more successful, including Francesca Schiavone’s championship at Roland Garros in 2010 and Flavia Pennetta’s at the US Open in 2015) .

« We’re trying to change the identity of our players. We train for modern tennis. That’s why we have players who don’t seem Italian in terms of their technical style, » said Filippo Volandri, Italy’s captain of the Davis Cup.

The Italian federation has relied heavily on statistical advisors to favor long rallies and rarely dangerous serves from the days when it was way below the baseline. « In modern tennis, most points end within four strokes. If 75 percent of the points end within four strokes, you have to know how to train players to endpoint in four strokes … This is why Berrettini is not your typical Italian. That’s where our resources go and that’s why everyone has changed, « said Volandri.

Both Sinner (last month in Miami) and Berrettini (last week in Madrid) recently reached the Masters final. Another Italian, Lorenzo Sonego, won the Sardegna Open last month. Sinner (No. 18) and Musetti (No. 82) are the only 19-year-olds in the top 100 of the ATP.

Volandri, who heads the high-performance center of the Italian Tennis Association in Tirrenia near Pisa, also writes the collaboration with the personal trainers to the players. The first joint « projects » began early with Berrettini, who has been coached by Vincenzo Santopadre since he was 14, and with Sonego, who has been with Gipo Arbino for 11 years.

Working with Musetti’s team, including training in Terrenia, started before winning the Australian Open Boys’ title in 2019. « We are all advisors available to the players and their coaches and teams. This is the big change in mentality the association has made, » said Volandri.

It is a big departure from a generation ago when Volandri himself was Italy’s best player and reached a career high of 25th in 2007.

« If you had a private setup then that was all you had. You could train in Tirrenia, but there was no collaboration. Now all the coaches are working with me and with each other. Everyone is talking to each other. So everyone is improving. The players are improving, the coaches are improving and the whole movement is improving, « he said.

The Tirrenia facility has more hard courts ( seven) as clay courts (four), and the association is even setting up a grass field for its players to prepare for Wimbledon.

Nicola Pietrangeli, the French Open champion from 1959 and 1960 and the only Italian outside r Panatta, who won a major individual title, recalled that in his day training was almost entirely limited to clay courts. « Back then, I arrived in London and had a day to practice on the grass. It was tough, » said Pietrangeli.

Italy is now a regular host to top-level tournaments. The next-generation ATP final (in Milan), the ATP final (in Turin) and the Davis Cup final (in Turin) take place in consecutive weeks of November. There was also the Sardegna Open and other events coming to Parma after the Italian Open. « It allows many players to compete against each other without having to travel around the world, which helps them financially, » said Volandri.

At least with Sinner, the ultimate goal seems to be to produce a player who can win Grand Slam titles , realistic.

Take Novak Djokovic, who had the following to say after beating Sinner at the Monte Carlo Masters last month: « He’s an all-round player. He hits the ball more or less on every surface in the sweet spot. He’s the one. » Future of our sport. Actually, it is already the presence of our sport. «

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