Thanks to Matteo’s return, there are nine Italians among the top 100 players in the world: the champion from Marrakech is 84th, with a jump of 51 positions. And he can still go up…
In this golden 2024 for Italian tennis there was a void to fill, a missing box to complete the puzzle: Matteo Berrettini, the man who in the pre-Sinner (Jannik) was already playing at high levels, but was not yet the champion of today) was the tip of our movement and made Italy dream. Thanks to the victory in Marrakech, the tennis player born in ’96 gained 51 positions in the rankings: today, when he woke up, he found himself in the top 100 players in the world, in 84th place. An extraordinary achievement, considering the premises; a new entry into the top 100 (or rather: a very welcome return) which brings to nine the number of Italian tennis players who occupy a one or two-digit position. Extraordinary result also considering the high quality of the tennis players involved, although for Italy it is not the absolute record, achieved in April 2021 when there were ten Italian players in the top 100.
BERRETTINI AND FOGNINI
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Matteo is now aiming to climb the ladder: between now and the grass season he has a few points to defend, which he won last year in Monte Carlo by winning two matches (against Maxime Cressy and Francisco Cerundolo) before withdrawing a few hours from the round of 16 against Holger Rune due to of an abdominal injury. Berrettini will therefore have something to lose in the Principality (it is no coincidence that he is 97th in the Live rankings) but in the subsequent tournaments he will have everything to gain. Consolidating the top-100 is the first objective and then climbing further. The same can be said of Fabio Fognini, currently 94th player in the rankings: Fabio withdrew from the Monte Carlo qualifiers after a good run in Marrakech to the quarterfinals and next week he will play the Oeiras Challenger, before trying to qualify for the Masters -1000 of Madrid. All possible points to earn.
SINNER AND MUSETTI
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Berrettini and Fognini close the list of the nine Italians in the top-100, obviously opened by Jannik Sinner: the South Tyrolean remains number 2 in the world, the best result ever for an Italian player in the history of the ATP. But watch out for Carlos Alcaraz: in Monte Carlo the Spaniard could return to the front, even if the Murcian’s condition (problem with his right forearm) needs to be kept an eye on. The second Italian in the top-100 is Lorenzo Musetti: 24th position for the Carrarino, who inaugurated his tournament in Monte Carlo by winning a good match against Taylor Fritz. The next match will be against Fils or Mannarino, with a possible round of 16 with Novak Djokovic in sight: it would be a remake of last year’s match, which reached the same point in the tournament, with the victory of the blue. Lorenzo has many points to defend on clay: fourth in the Principality, semi-final in Barcelona, eighth in Rome and Paris. Being able to resist, remaining in the top-30, would be a great thing in view of a second part of the season in which there is margin to gain several points.
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THE OTHERS
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The third Italian in the top-100 is Matteo Arnaldi (38), followed by Lorenzo Sonego (57): the two were protagonists in Malaga in the final stages of the Davis Cup (the first as a singles player, the second in doubles with Sinner), the from Turin will have to be careful because between Rome and Roland Garros he will have many points to defend. Following here are Flavio Cobolli (63) and Luciano Darderi (64), one in a row: two born in 2002 who are rising week after week, with the Italian-Argentine at his best ranking. They won’t play in Monte Carlo, Cobolli went out in the qualifiers and Darderi was busy in Houston until the semi-final: Flavio will return to Barcelona, Luciano to Bucharest. In 76th position we find Luca Nardi: after winning the Challenger in Naples, the 2003 from Pesaro passed the qualifications in Monte Carlo. For him too there is a lot of margin to earn in the coming months. Sinner in front, behind all the other talents: the top-100 is increasingly Italian.
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2024-04-08 08:49:04
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