The Terra Wortmann Open has always been the tournament of the Germans, apart from a certain Swiss player who has won the tournament 10 times. But in 2024, there will be a new tennis power at Germany's biggest ATP tournament.
No, it's not the once glorious USA or the Swedes or Spaniards. Surprisingly, it's Italy. The country that won the Davis Cup for the second time in its history last year. The first triumph was in 1976!
If you look at the seedings for the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN, you will see that the top seeds in both the singles and doubles are from Italy. Jannik Sinner leads the singles competition. The South Tyrolean has been the new owner of the tennis throne in the world rankings for a week now. And nobody can get past the Southern Europeans in the doubles either. Simone Bolleli and Andrea Vavassori lead the field.
Anyone who thinks that the Italians are only convincing at the top but not across the board - far from it. There are five of them in the individual field, which is as many as there are Germans in the main field, who are traditionally the most numerous here. In addition to Sinner, the Italian players are Luciano Darderi, Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego. Incidentally, nine Italians are among the top 100 in the world rankings.
But where does this tennis miracle south of the Alps come from? Boris Becker had this to say about it in 2023: "Italy shows in many ways how you have to organise yourself in tennis. The success of individual players or the team is no coincidence." This probably refers to the new approach the national federation has been taking for some time. There are a large number of second category Challenger tournaments in Italy. This gives Italian players the chance to gain world ranking points and experience in their own country at low cost and without the hassle of travelling. In 2023 alone, the tournament calendar there featured 23 Challenger events. There were eight in Germany.
And Jannik Sinner sees it that way himself: "I'm happy to be part of this Italian movement. More and more people are playing tennis now, I think that's the most important thing." And the success is not just limited to the men. High-flyer Jasmine Paolini has just reached the French Open final. Completely surprising, or perhaps not so surprising. Italy is now a tennis power.
