Giulio Zeppieri, Flavio Cobolli, Luca Nardi: Next Italian next-gen is coming!
Are you familiar with the names Giulio Zeppieri, Flavio Cobolli and Luca Nardi? No - then better said: Probably not yet! Because this trio belongs to another promising group of young Italian players who are constantly trying to pave their way to the top of the world.
by Florian Army from Parma
last edit: Jun 18, 2022, 01:18 pm
None of the three Azzurri is older than 20 years and all are already in the top 200 of the ATP world rankings. Ascending trend.
Zeppieri played on the junior tour until 2019, where he reached his highest ranking of 12th place. His best results were the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2018 and the semifinals at the Australian Open the following year. In doubles he reached the semi-finals of the same tournaments.
Challenger tournaments as a formula for success
The 20-year-old Roman is now on the ATP Challenger Tour and won his first title in the spring. It was no coincidence that this triumph happened on home soil in Barletta. Six Challenger events alone have taken place in Forli in northern Italy since the beginning of this year. There were also other tournaments in Turin, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Sanremo, Barletta, Rome and Vicenza. For comparison: in Germany only seven of these events will be held in the entire 2022 season.
The large number of high-class international tournaments is only one, but an important building block in the promotion of Italian talent.
"We're all good friends and train a lot together," explains Zeppieri, who sees his strengths in an attacking style of play with a solid service and a strong forehand. He revealed this on the sidelines of the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup taking place in Montechiarugolo-Parma these days. After Perugia last week, it is the second tournament in the ATP Challenger 125 category, i.e. the highest tournament level below the ATP tour. The world number 173 has reached at least the quarterfinals in both tournaments. “I came into the tournament with a wildcard. These series of tournaments are of course fantastic for us Italians,” said Zeppieri.
Cecchinato as a role model - Berrettini as a leader
Led by top 10 star Matteo Berrettini, there are a total of 17 men among the top 200. Only nine German professionals can be found in these regions of the world rankings.
"It all started with Marco Cecchinato," said Berrettini during the ATP tournament at Stuttgart's Weissenhof. "When he unexpectedly advanced to the semi-finals at the French Open in 2018, it gave us other Italian guys a belief that we could do something similar."
Last year's Wimbledon finalist Berrettini has already succeeded in emulating. And here, too, the full potential has probably not yet been exhausted. Other young stars like Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti or the trio mentioned at the beginning are already in the starting blocks to do the same.