Italy was immediately present on the first day of the Wimbledon tournament, awaiting the debut of Jannik Sinner, scheduled for Tuesday in the derby with Luca Nardi. The issue of the staff of the world number one was a hot topic until the eve and will continue to do so in the days to come, given that names are already being mentioned to succeed Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio, such as Rafa Nadal's former physiotherapist Rafa Maymo and another former collaborator of the Majorcan, Lluc Bauzà.
While waiting for news, but above all to see Sinner on the court, there will be no boredom. To begin with, tomorrow's match between the Italian veteran, Fabio Fognini, and Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning champion, the Alto Adige's first rival and fresh from an impressive series of victories, is full of suggestions. On the Centre Court, the 38-year-old current world no. 130 does not seem to have many chances against the Spaniard, but in any case he will make his 15th appearance at the Championships memorable, where he has stopped in the eighth-finals seven times.
"It's a great feeling to be back here defending the title. I'm really excited to start the tournament. I can't wait to play my first match. Let's see how it goes," Alcaraz said. "When I play without thinking about anything else, but just playing or having fun, I think I have the freedom to do what I want and like. When that happens, I always show my best tennis, my best level." Fognini is warned.
On the Italian front, there is also much anticipation for the match between Matteo Berrettini , finalist in 2021 and seeded no. 32, against Polish Kamil Majchrzak, who at Wimbledon but has never gone beyond the first round. The Roman, who remains so far the only Italian to have played a final in London in singles, could find Alexander Zverev in the third round if he continues in the tournament. Among the other Italians, Matteo Arnaldi, qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and Mattia Bellucci will also be looking for their first victory at their third slam of the season.
Arnaldi will face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, while Zeppieri will face another qualifier, Shintaro Mochizuki, and Bellucci will face British wild card Oliver Crawford. Finally, Luciano Darderi will try to reach the second round for the second consecutive year, but to do so he will have to beat Roman Safiullin.
Day 1 in London will also feature the best Italian in the ranking, Jasmine Paolini, one of the three Italians competing in the main draw, who will instead start their journey on Tuesday. Last year's finalist, the Tuscan who today gave up fourth place in the ranking to the Polish Iga Swiatek, will face the Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. Monday's program offers other interesting clashes, such as the one between the American Taylor Fritz, n.5 in the world, and the Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, a real challenge between champions of the service. Or the one between two promises, the British Jacob Fearnley and the Brazilian Joao Fonseca. The South American is ahead but on grass the theoretical gap should be smaller. Alcaraz has exchanged some blows with Fonseca in recent days.
"I was curious about the idea of playing with him, since the last time we crossed paths was at the 2023 Masters," the Spaniard explained. "For him, grass tennis is quite new, but since he likes to play aggressively, hit big forehands, go to the net, I'm quite sure that he will become a top-level grass player very soon. He's very young but his level is already very, very high."
(Online Union)
