Volandri on Roland Garros final: “Cobolli is mature and knows Zverev”

An unexpected result. And certainly not welcome. Filippo Volandri, Davis’ Italian captain and head of the federation’s technical staff, is obviously disappointed by Matteo Arnaldi’s withdrawal before the semi-final. An opportunity that the Ligurian player had deserved and which also saddened Flavio Cobolli, who arrived at the press conference together with his teammate to whom he said he was an example.

Captain, a truly unfortunate epilogue…

“Really. Regardless of how the match would have gone, Arnaldi had truly deserved this semi-final and it’s a shame that he wasn’t able to experience it. But he was ill the whole previous night and wouldn’t have had the chance to take the field.”

As a partial consolation, Arnaldi can still consider this tournament as the certification of a rebirth.

“Of course, after winning in Cagliari and reaching the third round in Rome he continued to improve and had another great tournament. He regained confidence in his physique, which is fundamental for him. The foot problem damaged him a lot. If Matteo can’t trust his physique, his tennis suffers. The most important thing is to have regained confidence in his own ability. We saw him do one marathon after another, manage the heat with Griekspoor and the battles with Collignon and Tiafoe. From the point From a physical and athletic point of view, an extraordinary job was done and when that works, then the technical part works too. Unfortunately he was unlucky.”

How do you expect the final between Zverev and Cobolli now?

“Flavio faces a tennis player he knows well, with whom he has won and lost in recent weeks and has the chance to achieve a great result. A Slam final and especially the first one, is always difficult, but I believe that Flavio will be able to play his chances, on a court that he now knows well and on which he is getting better and better. Zverev will do everything to win this title, it will be a hard-fought, interesting match.”

We also talk about Matteo Berrettini. He too had to leave the field injured, but the Slam quarters are an extraordinary sign.

“He is a great champion and we don’t find out today, and as a champion he was able to manage the resources he had in the best way. Then it is normal that he needs a bigger tank and in recent times, with all the stops he has had, he hasn’t been able to build it, but there is room to grow further and remain at the levels he belongs to.”

And Cobolli, despite the sadness of his friend’s retirement, finds himself in the Top 10 and a Slam finalist. Where can it go?

“When expectations are high, Flavio keeps his promise and this is very important, it is a sign of maturity. The match with Auger-Aliassime, which started in the storm of wind, was managed very well. With the roof closed the conditions were particular, the pitch slowed down and he was good at adapting.”

Little Italians are growing up: Federico Cinà also passed a Slam round for the first time, how do you see his immediate future?

“Federico must be given time to grow. It’s not because he did well at 19 by reaching the 2nd round of the Slam that we should expect the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Every path is different.”

Let’s talk a little about this Italian system. We are now a powerhouse, the proof is that without Sinner and Musetti we still have a finalist at Roland Garros. What was the turning point?

“I think it arrived about eight years ago, when we realized that we worked better by letting the kids grow through their coaches rather than centralizing everything. All those Fitp collaborators that you see in the garages today are the same ones who started back then: we make them available to the player, but through his coach. They help by transferring experience and allowing faster and safer growth. The federation tries to develop not only the player, but also the coach and the athletic trainers.”

Is this also why the teams of Italian players are increasingly almost completely “made in Italy”?

“Yes, because the boy is born with a teacher or a coach, but in 90% of cases he doesn’t have an athletic trainer. We provide a trainer from the federation who joins the team and works as a technical collaborator of the teacher. The objective is to achieve independence for the player and his team”.

You were a player and today you are captain. What would you like to improve as a movement and as an organization?

“Expanding the family to be able to widen the gap. We started by working in the Futures and many then moved up because the kids were extraordinarily good at growing up. Now we want to go back to having ten-eleven high-level players, with three in the top one hundred and another three in the top two hundred. To do this we have to expand the family. It’s not easy to find the right profiles, we need technical but also human skills. We don’t get tired of working to make our tennis grow.”