Being “from North Rome” or “from South Rome” is not the same thing. It is said that children from North Rome eat sushi with gusto, love brunch and CrossFit, take their pet dogs for walks, while children from South Rome eat suppers, walk around the Olimpico, and still get around on scooters. Cliche. But tonight the children of Giulio Cesare will think that they have proven proof of the superiority of those who, like them, spent their lives in the long streets and squares of the African neighborhood, in Parioli, on Fleming Hill: two boys “from the North of Rome”, who grew up playing tennis at the Magistrates’ Club of the Court of Auditors and at the Parioli Club, beat Austria and qualified Italy to the semifinals of the Davis Cup.
What’s interesting for me is that Matteo Berrettini, born in 1996, is already a Wimbledon finalist in 2021, and Flavio Cobolli, 2002, winner of this year’s ATP 500 in Hamburg, achieved their goal today in Bologna despite the absence of Master of Masters Jannik Sinner. I wrote it in the latest issue of Il Tennis Italiano magazine, in print before the announcement of his retirement: “Without Jannik, Italy’s third consecutive Cup victory would have had the flavor of an achievement marked by the talent of Lorenzo Musetti, the enthusiasm of Fabio Cobolli or Luciano Darderi”. After Sinner, Musetti also stepped aside as he was tired of a superb season finishing eighth in the world and Filippo Volandri’s selectors preferred Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego to Darderi, but my reasoning drew strength, I think, from the double absence.
The comparison between the first winning tennis player of the Italian new wave and the Austrian Jurij Rodionov, born in Nuremberg to Belarusian parents (someone told Bruno Vespa, Sinner critic and mentor of “Alvarez” about the circumstances), is balanced, characterized by the prevalence of the serve in the economy of the game of both. Divided into an end-of-season ranking of 120 positions (Matteo is ATP number 56), on the field they fight on an equal footing. The former pupil of Vincenzo Santopadre has been plagued by injuries in the last three years and is not in his best form. But in the decisive moments he showed extraordinary determination and clarity. To clarify: the second set, the tenth game, when he was serving under 4-5, he found himself at 0-40, he did not lose his cool and put a five-spingarde-five (copyright Massimo Grilli) that canceled out three set points and reminded us of the reason why on the circuit they nicknamed him “The Hammer”. In the ensuing tie break, he did what he had to do and closed the score at 6-3, 7-6.
When his turn came, Flavio Cobolli became even more convincing. His opponent is Filip Misolic, born in 2021, born in Graz to Croatian parents (as above: anyone who doubts Sinner’s Italian nature should look at how the Austrian behaves), and in fact he can’t find any countermeasures against the efficient, break-free play of the current ATP 22 (but he was 17th at the end of July). It ended 6-1 6-3 in 66 minutes). Mission accomplished, on Friday the opponent is Belgium.
Italy’s debut in the new Davis Cup was a happy one. Thanks to the extraordinary level of Italian tennis and the team spirit that both Roma players feel are the keepers. Berrettini said: “I feel happy when I have to make my contribution to a joint project. Since childhood I have loved group competitions, from the Provincial Cup to the Regional Cup. I really like them all. Be careful, this is not because Jannik or Lorenzo are less attached to the blue jersey, but in my case, it is a dimension that suits me.” Cobolli spoke in a press conference about “one of the best games of my career because I’ve always dreamed of playing at Davis in front of a fantastic crowd like tonight. And I feel like this team is like my family”. Captain Volandri concluded: “It is true, it is a pleasure to be here with these people. They help each other, have fun, suffer and rejoice together.” It’s like hearing Rivera and Riva declare in 1970 or Cannavaro and Del Piero in 2006. It’s football that warms the heart: now it’s tennis.
