With 7 Italians already in the main draw, the chase for the record attendance at the Championships begins in Roehampton
Wimbledon time. Time for strawberries and cream, white dresses and green lawns. Perhaps the most awaited tournament of the tennis season will start on Monday 29 June with the main draw, but the qualifying rounds, which will be played in Roehampton, will start a week earlier, on Monday 22. With sixteen Italians at the starting line, eleven in the men’s and five in the women’s (Lisa Pigato, Lucrezia Stefanini, Nuria Brancaccio, Lucia Bronzetti and Tyra Grant). The objective, with the patrol led by Francesco Maestrelli and Andrea Pellegrino, up to Federico Cinà, is to replenish the contingent of the seven already present on the scoreboard: Jannik Sinner, Flavio Cobolli, Luciano Darderi, Matteo Arnaldi, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Sonego and Mattia Bellucci. Among the girls there are only Jasmine Paolini and Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The absolute record for Italian tennis for appearances in the men’s main draw at Wimbledon is eleven, set last year. If at least five of the boys involved in the cadet draw since Monday were to make it, winning three games in a row, there would be yet another record to update.
hopes
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One of the most anticipated names, despite having been among the last to join the group, taking advantage of Riedi’s forfeit, is the brightest Italian hope. Federico Cinà, the first in 2007 to win a match in a Slam at Roland Garros, also passing through the qualifiers, will attempt to attack the main draw of the Championships for the first time. He won’t be among the top seeds, so it will be interesting to see who will put him in the draw. Raul Brancaccio and Stefano Napolitano were also added at the end, together with him, taking advantage of the waivers of Sebastian Korda and Lloyd Harris. The latter stopped one step away from the main draw in 2018, losing to Barrere in the third round of qualifying. Returning instead to younger players, the spotlight is on Gianluca Cadenasso, born in 2004, stable in the top 200 for a couple of months, after ending 2025 at no. 312. It will also be his first experience at Wimbledon. The only other Italian born in the 2000s to take part in the qualifiers will be Luca Nardi. The class of 2003, who lost in the first round to Sinner last year, has won just one career match on grass at tour level.
veterans
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However, those with a better ranking have a better chance. Like Andrea Pellegrino and Francesco Maestrelli, included among the top sixteen seeds. Both have already passed the Slam qualifications in 2026: the Apulian Pellegrino at Roland Garros, the Pisan at the Australian Open. Then losing against the finalists of the two tournaments, Cobolli and Djokovic. However, both have never played the main draw at Wimbledon, with Maestrelli without any victories even in the cadet draw. They are accompanied by three highly experienced players, none of whom have ever particularly shone on grass, such as Stefano Travaglia, Marco Cecchinato and Lorenzo Giustino, the only one of the three to have never taken part in the main draw of the Championships. Andrea Guerrieri, born in 1998, completes the Italian qualifying team. No. 511 at the beginning of the year, he is currently in 230th position, thanks to a great season at Challenger level, and for the first time he will have the opportunity to play to access a Slam. He revealed a few months ago that this was his dream: to play a Major, even starting from the qualifiers, with London grass as his greatest desire. From Monday, he will be able to make it a reality. With the hope of being able to join the seven already present in the main draw on the most sacred courts of tennis. Finally, one last curiosity: of the sixteen Italians, both men and women, involved in the qualifiers, none has ever won a match in the Wimbledon main draw. The objective to add to the climb to get among the 128 who will compete for the trophy which, last year, Jannik Sinner lifted by beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
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