Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting a remarkable young tennis player from Italy. The then 19 year-old Matteo Donati made quite an impression on me at the two Danish Futures tournaments in Denmark. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye on him, and it seems like he is taking his career to a whole new level this season.
Tomorrow morning, Matteo Donati is up against 24 year-old Hiroki Moriya (Japan), who is currently ranked 174. If “Donats” (as he is called by friends) beats Moriya, he is ready for his first Grand Slam – the prestigious Wimbledon tournament.
Through to first ATP Challenger Tour final
However, even if Donati does not manage to qualify for this year’s Wimbledon, he is still on a career high that looks very promising indeed. In April, Matteo Donati received a wild card for the 2015 Tennis Napoli Cup at which he made it through to his first ATP Challenger Tour final . On his way to the final, he beat the no 1 seed Andrey Golubev (Russia) in the second round. Donati then received another wild card – this time for the Rome Masters (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) where he made it through to the second round by beating the world no 49 Santiago Giraldo (Colombia). He thereby reached a career high of 215 on the ATP World Ranking (up by nearly 200 positions since year-end 2014).
I wish Matteo Donati all the best for his big match tomorrow and also massive congratulations on a strong performance this entire season. To me, there is nothing better than seeing a young athlete on his way up (and for many reasons you can just tell who will go far) and then seeing him make it to the top. This guy is only 20 years old. You better watch him closely!
Follow Matteo Donati on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & web: matteodonati.com – and check out my pictures of “Donats” below.
More tennis pics by BS Sports & Media:
Photos by BS Sports & Media from ITF Futures Aarhus 2014:
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