The weekend of the first week of the 2024 Italian Tennis Championships comes to life on the clay courts of the Foro Italico in Rome. On Saturday, Italy celebrated Stefano Napolitano’s splendid comeback victory over the young Chinese Shang, but recorded the defeats of Matteo Arnaldi and Luca Nardi in the second round. We talked about this and much more in today’s episode TennisMania Special International Romebroadcast hosted by Dario Puppo (journalist and commentator for Eurosport) and visible on the OA Sport Youtube channel.
“We are very rightly focusing on the fact of having this new generation of kids who in the meantime behave well on the pitch, almost all of them, there is a really good habit and in any case everyone is followed by a different staff, so it’s a generalized thing. Unfortunately in this tournament things didn’t go very well compared to those who were the most announced names, but above all the presence of Napolitano in the third round allows us to say what the habit was in the past, that of having players like him who in Rome maybe they could make the exploit and get to the second-third round with the scoreboard at 64, not 96 like now. Now somehow if you get on the right side it’s a little more feasible to move forward precisely because the main draw has widened. Now it’s the anomaly“, declares Puppo.
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On the competitive path of the 29-year-old from Piedmont: “It’s incredible, with everything that has happened to Napolitano in his career with injuries, his tenacity. It’s the most important thing, he always believed in it. He was a bit predestined. When you find that physique when you’re young it’s an advantage. He showed good things, but when you have problems with your back, groin, elbow surgery, knee, it becomes difficult. Shang is a 19 year old boy who has qualities that go better with fast surfaces, but he is light and doesn’t have that experience yet. For Napolitano, having had this wild card from Berrettini who was freed to enter the scoreboard was very important, but you have to seize the opportunities and he did. I don’t remember an Italian player who gave 6-1 6-0 in two sets to any opponent. He was impressive. He has won 11 games in a row since 1-1. I am in awe of this guy“.
“He has a nice game: a great backhand, but overall he has all the shots. When you see Napolitano play, you wonder how it was possible not to have seen him at this level before. A year ago he was number 555 in the world and now he is 125th, so different perspectives open up for a player who – as I have already said for Darderi and Passaro – will force us to follow his matches to understand his performance in other tournaments. Although the balance is negative in Rome for the Italian movement, bringing together the men’s and women’s sectors, it is the large number and the expanded draw that ensures we have good players with great qualities. We still have the possibility of having Italian tennis players in the game. Roma is a tournament that deserves anyway, beyond the absences of Sinner and Alcaraz, because we are seeing some excellent tennis“, continues the Eurosport journalist.
On Rafael Nadal’s probable Last Dance at the Foro Italico after the knockout with Hurkacz: “Yesterday was a sensational day, with the greeting from Rome to Nadal. At a certain point the Foro Italico stopped, with the entire public gathering there from the suspended walkway where the players pass through the various areas. It was sensational. In this, the Rome crowd marked a moment that will be remembered, also because it was dedicated to a great champion who won the tournament 10 times and was the great dominator of clay. He is the greatest specialist in the history of sport, but he still won 22 Slams so he is not just red. Yesterday it was as if Rome had stopped for a king from times gone by. It was extraordinary“.