Italian tennis is experiencing a renaissance unlike anything the sport has seen from a single nation in modern memory. At the heart of it all is Jannik Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam champion who grew up in the mountain village of Sexten, nestled in the Dolomites near the Austrian border, hardly the archetypal birthplace of a global tennis superstar.
Sinner's journey began on ski slopes, where he reached runner-up in a junior national giant slalom championship, before tennis eventually claimed his full attention. His first coach, family friend Andreas Schönegger, recalls a slight, red-haired youngster whose technical quality was startling from the very beginning. At just 13 and a half, Sinner made the bold decision to leave home for the renowned Piatti Tennis Centre on the Italian Riviera, some 400 miles away, a move that would ultimately transform him into the world's finest player.
But Italy's rise extends far beyond one prodigy. The nation currently boasts six men inside the world's top 50, while Jasmine Paolini has become a genuine force on the women's tour. Perhaps most remarkably, 39-year-old Sara Errani, one of the sport's most decorated doubles specialists, is still collecting titles. Collectively, Italy has claimed the last three Davis Cups and won the Billie Jean King Cup in back-to-back years, 2024 and 2025.
Paolo Lorenzi, tournament director of the Italian Open and director of women's tennis at the Italian Tennis Federation, has been central to building the infrastructure that underpins these achievements. The combination of elite academies, fierce national pride, and emerging homegrown talent has created a pipeline that shows no sign of slowing.
TennisDraw users have been heavily backing Italian players throughout this Wimbledon fortnight, and it's easy to see why.
