World No. 1 Jannik Sinner lost on Saturday night at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, but another Italian – Matteo Arnaldi – is in the semifinals.
In the Final Four on Sunday, he will face the player who defeated Sinner in Montreal, Andrey Rublev.
Learn more about Arnaldi here.
He was born on the Italian Riviera
Arnaldi was born in San Remo, Italy – about 45 minutes by car from Monte Carlo. He has that in common with his compatriot Fabio Fognini.
Arnaldi reached his career high of 22nd place as a junior and played his first professional event in 2018.
On his way to the top, Arnaldi competed in his first ever Challenger tournament in 2019 against fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who is now a semifinalist and Olympic medalist in Grand Slam tournaments. In 2022, he took part in his first ATP tournament in his hometown of Rome as a wildcard, where he lost to Grand Slam winner Marin Cilic.
He had a breakthrough in 2023
Arnaldi started last year outside the top 130, but by the end of the season he was well inside the top 50. His highlights included reaching the ATP quarterfinals for the first time, then the semifinals and reaching the fourth round of the US Open.
Arnaldi also made his debut for Italy in the Davis Cup preliminary round in September, when he was called up at short notice, and retained his place in the last eight.
READ: Rublev finally gets some wins in Canada
He is a smiler
Like Alcaraz, Arnaldi, 23, also likes to smile on the court. He idolized Novak Djokovic and his playing style is similar to that of the 24-time Grand Slam winner and Olympic gold medalist.
Arnaldi mostly guards the baseline and is a good mover. He also has the ability to quickly switch from defense to attack in a rally, always with a cap in tow.
He is part of an Italian tennis renaissance
Italian men’s tennis has probably never been in better shape. Arnaldi is one of nine Italians in the top 100 – and six of them are 23 or younger.
The nation was once known as a nation that was only successful on clay, but today they are winning victories and titles on all surfaces.
“Right now we are in a very good position. We saw that at the Olympics too,” Sinner said, probably referring to Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini’s gold in the women’s doubles and Musetti’s bronze in the singles. “It was nice. Yes, it’s just nice to see a big part of Italian tennis entering the tennis world. We are all very young, which is very nice. Everyone is a different player. It’s not like everyone plays the same way. So, yes, it’s very positive.”
He recovered this week
Arnaldi had never reached a quarterfinal at a Masters 1000 before this week, and to do it at IGA Stadium he had to come back a few times.
Arnaldi was a set and a break down in his first set against Mackenzie McDonald, a break down in his first set against Olympic silver medalist Karen Khachanov, a set down against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and a break down in his first set against Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.
Arnaldi defeated Rublev in straight sets in their last match at the French Open in May.
“I saw him play (against Sinner),” Arnaldi said. “He played really well. So it will be a totally different match from Paris, where I think I played one of the best tennis matches ever.”
Featured photo by: Amélie Caron
