Whatever Matteo Arnaldi is doing off the court appears to be helping his performances on it.
The 23-year-old Italian, who on Friday upset sixth seed Andrey Rublev to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros, has only been competing on the ATP Tour for just over a year. Yet he is already well aware of the importance of taking a mental break from tennis as he travels the world competing against the world’s best.
A recent example of that approach came in March in Miami, where he attended a concert by the Canadian rapper Drake just hours after defeating Denis Shapovalov at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
“It was a gift for my girlfriend. She loves Drake,” Arnaldi told ATPTour.com. “To be honest, I don't like it that much, but I listen sometimes with my girlfriend. I'm not a big, big fan, but she is. Whether I won or lost [my match], I had to go, but it was nice. I mean, I would have started to complain if I had gone there after losing!”
Arnaldi has enjoyed a rapid rise in the past year, and he entered Roland Garros at a career-high No. 35 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Now regularly competing in tennis’ biggest events, the Italian actively seeks space to breathe away from the court.
“I kind of like to switch off a bit,” said Arnaldi. “You can't be always focused, all the time. Miami was long. It is two weeks and I got there a week early because I lost early in Indian Wells. So you know sometimes you need [things to do]. I went also to an NBA game after. You need some time off and I'm lucky that my girlfriend can travel with me a lot, so I try to enjoy these moments.”
Arnaldi is one of eight Italians that made the second round at Roland Garros this year, a reflection of the strength in depth of the country’s current crop of ATP Tour stars. Last November, Arnaldi and Jannik Sinner, who has a chance to become the first Italian No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history after the clay-court major, won singles rubbers as Italy won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976.
“For sure, I think after Davis Cup we all considered ourselves lucky to be there,” said Arnaldi, when asked about the current rude health of Italian men’s tennis. “We would all say that for sure the Italian generation is going very well, but I don't think much about it.
“[There are a lot of us], because there are a lot of other young players coming out now. There are so many so you can't compare yourself with everyone. I'm just happy that all these Italians are coming and are winning, also because I'm friends with all of them. So it's always nice to have them at the tournaments with you.”
After downing Rublev, Arnaldi’s next test at Roland Garros is a fourth-round clash with another Top 10 opponent, former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas. It will be the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, and the Italian will hope to bring the same sort of level that helped him ease past Rublev in straight sets.
“I think it was the best [performance of mine] in Slams, for sure,” said Arnaldi in his post-match press conference after the Rublev win. “I played really good the whole match. It's not easy to play best-of-five with this continuity that I did, so I'm very happy for that."
© Copyright 1994 - 2024 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices 
