There are two ways to be successful in sport: planning for the long term through a high investment in development or praying to fate that some talented boy is born in the country. Or, even better, a combination of both. Such is the case of Italy, which has been doing things with great discretion for a long time and, consequently, can currently see the results reflected. It’s that Italian tennis is in very good health. And it seemed impossible not to imagine it after holding several Challengers, Futures and Junior events each year. In that sense, Jannik Sinner leads the flag of the process, Lorenzo Musetti He accompanies him and just a few steps behind are two other young Italians who will make people talk in the future: Giulio Zeppieri and Flavio Cobolli They are excited through their game and their good performances on the circuit.
THE ‘ZURDITO’ OF THE LITTER 2001
Born on December 7, 2001, Zeppieri is shown as one of the Italian federation’s bets to shine within a few years. Unlike other players who have very forced movements, his game is very simple. In fact, it makes tennis seem like a simple sport. Professional since 2019, his name was not one of the most mentioned in his litter (shared with Sinner, Nakashima, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, among others), but he managed to create a space in the Challengers: he surprised everyone at the Challenger in Parma two ago years (he beat a top 100 like Lorenzi) and, little by little, he left the U18 championships to focus on professionalism. Despite having chosen a clay court tournament schedule (it was established at the Barletta CH), his game seems to adapt better on hard courts.
An aspect to correct? His character. A few months ago, he was involved in an unpleasant situation since threatened to kill an umpire in his defeat before the aforementioned Cerúndolo in the Challenger in Rome (lost 6-0 and 6-3). “Do you want to argue? Get out and I’m going to kill you, come on, jump out if you have balls,” he said angrily.
THE OTHER HOPE OF 2002
While the player who broke all limits in the 2002 litter was Musetti, another one who began to emerge is Cobolli. So much so that it went from 874th in the ranking at the beginning of the year to 257th today. Located in the top 15 of the Next Gen race to Milan, the Italian has an exquisite backhand, plays deep and is very intelligent on the track.
What were your best results in 2021? Final in the Challenger of Barletta, final in the Challenger of Rome 2, triumph against Marcos Giron in the first round of the ATP 250 of Parma (in the next instance he fell to Struff in a tight result, 7-6 in the third) and won a Future in Turkey. In addition, he debuted at the Masters 1000 in Rome (loss to Davidovich).
THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN, THE OBJECTIVE OF BOTH
Both Cobolli and Zeppieri are very close to qualifying for the Australian Open. Beyond the fact that the listing is still pending, both broke the top250 barrier and if they had a good performance in the last weeks of the year they could enter without problems. While the flashes continue (logically) in Sinner and Musetti, we will have to start keeping up with these two players.
.
