Ranked 363 at the start of last year, Matteo Arnaldi was just another face and name among thousands of players grinding it out in professional tennis’ lower rungs aspiring to make it to the big league one day.
On Monday, the 22-year-old Italian will walk into the Arthur Ashe Stadium for a competitive date with world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of the 2023 US Open.
In a Slam where a more accomplished Matteo from Italy — 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini — left the court on a wheelchair after retiring from the second round, this lesser experienced Matteo has made his presence felt.
Arnaldi may have himself been helped by the mid-match retirement of his first-round opponent, but the five-set win against French teen Arthur Fils in the second round was all his doing. Higher in the third round was the ranking of his opponent and the stakes. Yet the youngster made light work of world No.16 Cameron Norrie, packing the 2022 Wimbledon semi-finalist 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 for his first fourth-round entry in a Grand Slam.
His current ranking of 61, more than 300 spots above where Arnaldi began in 2022, may portray the tale of a meteoric rise. However, the lanky Italian’s path has been defined by steady and solid steps.
Having turned pro in 2019, he broke into the top 500 of the ATP rankings in 2021 after winning two ITF titles. Taking a step up into the ATP Challenger circuit last year, Arnaldi won a home Challenger title at Francavilla al Mare in May and reached a couple of more finals in the season to find a spot in the world’s top 200 and the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals.
Beginning this season ranked 134, two more Challengers titles in Spain (in February and April) would push him closer to the top 100, which he did in style. Getting into the main draw of the ATP Madrid Masters as a qualifier, Arnaldi earned the biggest victory of his career when he stunned world No.4 Casper Ruud in straight sets in the second round on clay in April.
A top 100 pro now, he also began beating players in that group: Argentine Diego Schwartzman at ATP Rome Masters, Spaniard Jaume Munar at Heibronn Challenger, Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori at ATP 250 Bastad and Czech Jiri Lehecka at ATP 250 Umag, where he made his first ATP Tour semi-final in July.
His Grand Slam progress too mirrors his professional tennis journey. Crashing out of the final qualifying round at this year’s Australian Open, Arnaldi got his first main draw appearance and Slam win at the French Open before losing in the second round. After a first-round exit at Wimbledon, the Italian has gone several steps in New York in a week that has left him “a bit speechless”.
Yet not entirely surprised. The moment he glanced through the draw where he saw Alcaraz looming in his path, “that was my goal: to go and play against him,” Arnaldi said.
The promising player has a game that has a few similarities with the finest young talent. Not one to be chained to the baseline, the Italian loves to throw in some variety — the lobs, the drops, etc. — that helped him to 37 winners against Norrie.
“He (Alcaraz) is very physical, and I think I’m a bit physical,” Arnaldi said of his next challenge.
Arnaldi is among five men in the draw who have made the singles fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time; the others are Rinky Hijikata, Dominic Stricker, Borna Gojo and Jack Draper. Add Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz and that is eight men making their last 16 debut at the US Open where upsets have been a common sight in the first week.
Fancy some more in the second
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