Lorenzo Carboni has been studying as an apprentice professional tennis player since he was 13 years old. In the same academy, that of the Como coach Riccardo Piatti in Bordighera, where Jannik Sinner grew up.
There are similarities: the South Tyrolean left San Candido to study tennis in Liguria, Lorenzo Carboni left Alghero for the same reason. «We crossed paths for a few years, I trained with Jannik several times despite the age difference», says the eighteen-year-old talent from Alghero, now number 705 in the world, fresh from the semi-final in the Roland Garros Junior tournament in Paris and in recent weeks engaged in a series of smaller international tournaments in Poland.
Carboni, you lost in the semi-final at Roland Garros just like Sinner.
«Yes, but Jannik’s was the real tournament, I only took part in the junior one. For now, in the future maybe who knows.”
Is your goal the same as Sinner had at his age, to reach number one in the world rankings?
«The goal of any young person who approaches professional sport is to reach the top: Serie A or World Cup for football, NBA championship for basketball, winning the Grand Slam tournaments or reaching the top of the ATP rankings for those who play tennis. But this is a goal, a project that can only be realized through a specific path. Which is what I’m trying to do too.”
Where and when did you start playing tennis?
«In Alghero, Maria Pia fields, I was three years old, my teacher was Barbara Galletto. Then came Giancarlo Di Meo, who saw a certain talent in me, but above all it was my father, a doctor with a background as a footballer, who pushed me towards the racket: as a child I also played football and basketball, in the end I chose tennis ».
How does the promising Lorenzo Carboni play tennis?
«I try to be solid from the baseline and open up opportunities to close the points on the net. I’m not afraid to attack.”
Modern tennis.
“I’ll try. I’m working a lot to improve service and forehand, but above all the mental aspect. Thank you very much to Jannik Sinner.”
In what sense?
«I am convinced that tennis is 70 percent a question of the head, of the mind. This is why I am working very hard, thanks to the help of Roccardo Piatti’s academy and the coaches who follow me in tournaments, Gianluigi Quinzi, Luca Vanni and Magnus Tideman, to improve above all as a person. And in this case the model is Sinner himself, his attitude, how he is on the pitch, always concentrated, always attentive, and how he is off the pitch, always calm, smiling, always well-disposed towards fans, journalists, officials jobs. Here, Sinner is not only number one in the ATP rankings, he is also number one in life.”
How is your position on the international circuit?
«My best ranking was 680, now I’m 705, I’ve already reached some finals in minor international tournaments, I beat players like Fatic when he was 190 in the world. I realize that I am improving and that the improvements come directly from my personal progress, in attitudes and aptitude. I believe in it and I am convinced that I have taken the right path.”
Your model from a technical point of view?
«I have always been a Djokovic fan».
What is the life of a young aspiring professional like?
«In Bordighera we train six hours a day, the rest is dedicated to rest and study. Then there is the competitive activity, planned together with Riccardo Piatti’s staff.”
How was your Roland Garros experience?
«A beautiful week, I breathed the atmosphere of the Grand Slam tournaments even if I only participated in the Junior singles».
Same changing rooms as the champions?
«Yes, I happened to meet Dimitrov, Fritz, I also greeted Sinner who recognized me».
Now it’s Wimbledon.
«No, I won’t play on grass: let’s say that the junior Roland Garros was an exception, with Riccardo Piatti we agree that it is preferable to attend the circuit of minor tournaments that give ATP points to try to climb the rankings».
Is the life of a tennis player hard?
«It’s the life I chose and that I like. Of course, there are long trips, more guesthouses than hotels, more suburban clubs than stadiums like Roland Garros, but it’s all part of a path of personal growth as well as tennis growth. We moved forward at the beginning thanks to the help of the family, the Federation and the sponsors. We are all investing, me first, in work, which pays off in the end, I’m sure of it.”
Will Lorenzo Carboni be the first Sardinian in the top one hundred in the world rankings?
“Why not higher?”
Number one like Sinner?
“I want to try.”
Same changing rooms as the champions?
«Yes, I happened to meet Dimitrov, Fritz, I also greeted Sinner who recognized me».
Now it’s Wimbledon.
«No, I won’t play on grass: let’s say that the junior Roland Garros was an exception, with Riccardo Piatti we agree that it is preferable to attend the circuit of minor tournaments that give ATP points to try to climb the rankings».
Is the life of a tennis player hard?
«It’s the life I chose and that I like. Of course, there are long trips, more guesthouses than hotels, more suburban clubs than stadiums like Roland Garros, but it’s all part of a path of personal growth as well as tennis growth. We moved forward at the beginning thanks to the help of the family, the Federation and the sponsors. We are all investing, me first, in work, which pays off in the end, I’m sure of it.”
Will Lorenzo Carboni be the first Sardinian in the top one hundred in the world rankings?
“Why not higher?”
Number one like Sinner?
“I want to try.”
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