Luca Vanni is now known as the guy who came from out of nowhere to finish runner-up at–and very nearly win–the Brasil Open as a qualifier. But where was nowhere before last week?
Now 29, the Italian first earned ranking points in the summer of 2006. He did not crack the top 400 until August of 2008. Vanni plunged back outside the top 700 in the fall of 2009 and did not break into the top 300 until June of 2012. He then plummeted beyond the top 900 in 2013 before a sudden breakout last season.
Of course, all of Vanni’s 2014 success came at the Futures and Challenger levels (seven Futures titles–every one of them at home in Italy–plus one Futures runner-up and one Challenger runner-up). He did not play a single ATP event and attempted to qualify just once, getting blown out by Collin Altamirano in round one of U.S. Open qualification.
Vanni’s ascension to the top 150 has already gotten him into qualifying of four tournaments this year and direct entry into Quito. He successfully qualified in Chennai but still had never won an ATP-level, main-draw match until his second successful qualification last week in Sao Paulo. Vanni assumed the Q/LL place of No. 1 seed Feliciano Lopez in the draw and the rest, of course, is history.
At 6’6”, Vanni does not wield a huge serve for a big guy but moves well and is obviously quite adept–and experienced–on clay. His two-handed backhand is dangerous and by all indications from his Sao Paulo semifinal against Joao Souza, his mental strength should not be underestimated. Amidst an atmosphere at least as hostile as a Brazilian Davis Cup match, Vanni outlasted the crowd favorite in three grueling sets.
Vanni beats Souza, blows kisses to crowd, then talks:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm1yGQ3PpgU]
Vanni vs. Pablo Cuevas third-set tiebreaker:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpB09O_lKXM]
Up to a career-high of No. 108 in the world, Vanni is on course for direct entry into the French Open. In fact, he is close to a lock with only 30 ranking points to defend between now and the entry deadline.
From the ATP website: “Nickname is ‘Lucone’…Speaks Italian and English…Started playing tennis aged nine “for fun”…Parents are Luciano (a furniture business owner) and Luciana; sister, Sara, is a bank representative; two uncles played Italian Serie A volleyball…Favorite shot is serve…Favorite tournament is Sao Paulo…Idol growing up was Marat Safin…Hobbies include movies, music, football and spending time with friends…Physical trainer is Gianfranco Palini.”
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