ATP Challenger Tour: The young Italians continue to show up
With Mattia Bellucci on Sunday in Saint Tropez, the seventh Italian who can still count himself among #NextGen won a title on the ATP Challenger Tour in the current season.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Oct 18, 2022, 04:47 pm
While Marco Cecchinato, semi-finalist at the French Open 2018, threw himself backwards in the sand in Rio de Janeiro after his three-set win in the final of the challenger there against Yannick Hanfmann, his compatriot Mattia Bellucci had the first emotions after winning the tournament Saint Tropez processed. Bellucci, 21 years old, defeated compatriot Matteo Arnaldi 6:3 and 6:3 in the final. And is thus the seventh Italian who is still part of the #NextGen and who has already won a title in the current season at the second level of professional tennis.
In this line-up are final losers Arnaldi, but also the likes of Lorenzo Musetti (who beat Carlos Alcaraz in a great final in Hamburg, even at the highest level), Flavio Cobolli , Francesco Maestrelli , Luca Nardi , and Francesco Passaro . This is certainly also due to the fact that a Challenger tournament takes place in Italy almost every week. And the local players can also access many wildcards and chances.
However, the successes of the young Italians and the comparatively old Marco Cecchinato do not ensure that the Azzurri are ahead of the challengers when it comes to tournament victories. With 19 championships each, Argentina and France are tied. Quentin Halys also equalized on Sunday with his win in Ismaning. Incidentally, Halys also leads the statistics on the Challenger Tour with 43 match wins.