On Sunday, a few minutes after Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner stepped on the court against Alex de Minaur in the final of the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, another Italian man laid flat on his back in Bengaluru. Almost 7,700km away from the Dutch city where World No. 4 Sinner was in the limelight, Stefano Napolitano - a compatriot ranked 200 places below him, had just won his second ever title on the Challenger Tour.
Unlike Sinner, Napolitano is not a young and rising player from the European nation. He is 28 years old and not even amongst the Top 10 Italian men in the ATP Rankings. However, his celebration, after defeating Korea’s Seongchan Hong 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the KSLTA courts, provided only a hint of relief one experiences after an extended period of struggle.
At 6’5”, with a strong physique and a power-packed game, Napolitano was on the cusp of breaking into the Top 150 in 2017. A spate of injuries and a dip in form from that point along with the rise of the likes of Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Sonego, Lorenzo Musetti and Sinner meant that he kept slipping further away from the national spotlight while losing precious time. “I had some rough three-four years. I had an elbow operation, then broke my knee. Then, I had a double hernia operation. So, it’s been a pretty tough stretch,” Napolitano had told Sportstar after his second-round win at Chennai Open this year.
Tennis kid
Napolitano grew up in a tennis family in Biella, a city in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. His father Cosimo, mother Cristina; and sister Nicole are all tennis coaches.
“It’s many people’s dreams into one. It can get intense sometimes but it’s a good part of it. Having my family around and supporting my dream is something important for me, so I take it as a big help and not something that puts pressure on me,” said Napolitano.
His father was also the tournament director of the Challenger event held in Biella for more than 20 years. “I used to be a ballkid at the Challenger level. I have seen Juan Martin del Potro when he was very young. I saw many other very good players playing in my hometown,” said Napolitano, who made his main-draw debut on the Challenger circuit as a wildcard in Biella in 2010.
Going through the grind twice
Napolitano, a former Junior World No. 9, had to be patient as he moved on to the senior level completely in 2013. He did not have any major ITF or Challenger success for the next two years.
He began the 2016 season outside the Top 400 but with a bit more consistency and a maiden Challenger title in Ortisei, he finished it at 172. Things got even better in 2017 when he made it to the main draw at Roland Garros as a qualifier and defeated the then World No. 31 Mischa Zverev in the first round to achieve a career-high ranking of 152.
However, an elbow injury in 2020 slowed down his progress and forced him to eventually go through the grind again, right from the ITFs when last season began.
“At the beginning, you compare yourself to your old version but it’s just a different reality. It’s just a different thing and you have to evolve,” said Napolitano.
This is where Italy’s tennis ecosystem helped him get things back on track. Along with the Rome Masters where he made it to the main draw after receiving a qualifying wild card while being ranked 555, he also collected a significant amount of points from the 10 Challengers and five ITFs he played at home last year.
“The (Italian Tennis) Federation is doing a very good job - helping the young guys and giving us the chance to play many tournaments in Italy. I think that’s the formula. We have tournaments, we keep playing, we keep trying,” said the 28-year-old.
On Monday, Napolitano will be at 160 in the ATP Rankings, the closest he has been to his career-high in the last seven years. A deep run in this week’s Pune Challenger can take him even past that.
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