Beach Tennis World No. 1 Alessandro Calbucci on Comparisons to Roger Federer

Italy’s Alessandro Calbucci, who is known as the Roger Federer of Beach Tennis, says that although he is flattered by the comparisons to the Swiss legend, he thinks his game is more like Novak Djokovic's.

The 40 year old finished 2019 as the No. 1 player in Beach Tennis - the fourth time in his career that he has accomplished the feat. 

Speaking to the ITF website, Calbucci says, “People refer to me as the Roger Federer of beach tennis because of my style, results, the glamour and so on. I like this because I am a Federer fan 100 per cent and I am an ambassador and icon of the sport. Maybe, though, technically speaking, my game is more like Novak Djokovic’s. It is more like Djoko’s given my consistency and I have a great return. Also, I would score nine out of 10 in everything, but 10 out of 10 in nothing.”

Calbucci says his idol while growing up was former AC Milan and Netherlands striker Marco van Basten. “I started accidentally. I used to go back to Ravenna from university for the summer and I saw some of my former football teammates playing beach tennis. When they recognised me, they invited me to play. I started to hit a few balls on the beach but, while I missed playing sport, I wasn’t really a fan to begin with. I kept playing though, got some good results and started to get more involved. Around that time, beach tennis as a sport started to grow quickly and I began to invest more time and energy into it. It wasn’t too long before I loved it and chose it as my life. Back then, I would not believe all that has happened since. You have good expectations and ambitions but I wasn’t feeling at that time that I had great potential. Nor did I feel the sport had such potential. It was more of a local sport, more of an Italian game than a global game, with maybe some tournaments in Reunion and France. But then I started to travel around, spreading the sport everywhere, and was part of the evolution of the sport. I am proud of my part in doing that.”

Calbucci says he wants to continue expanding the profile of beach tennis as well as helping the next generation of players.  “Beach tennis is very attractive and has huge potential as a sport. It has grown a lot, not just in Italy but in Brazil and South America. It is very contagious and a way of life. Seeing how much beach tennis has expanded is something that I am very proud of and the motivation to grow the sport will go on. I just want to play and win the best tournaments while helping to establish beach tennis in new places. This is such an important part of my life now. There are many places I have not visited yet to promote beach tennis.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2VCuHOu