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Vavassori's sweaty shirt swap: A hilarious Australian Open moment

Italian reflects on memorable selfie
January 19, 2025
Andrea Vavassori and a fan on Saturday at the Australian Open.
Andrea Vavassori
Andrea Vavassori and a fan on Saturday at the Australian Open. By Andrew Eichenholz

The funniest moment of the Australian Open might belong to Italian doubles star Andrea Vavassori.

Vavassori and Sara Errani won their first-round mixed doubles match on Saturday against Australians Destanee Aiava and Omar Jasika 6-3, 6-4. But the clash was far from straightforward.

There was a raucous atmosphere on Court 6, and the Italian top seeds even rallied the fans closer to their side by the end of the encounter. Vavassori gave a fan his arm sleeve after the first set and after the match, jogged over to take a selfie with the fan.

That fan, whose name Vavassori does not know, asked to swap shirts, and 29-year-old obliged. By the time Vavassori snapped the selfie, the fan had already put his sweaty shirt on.

“It was one of the funniest [moments], also because the situation was really strange,” Vavassori told ATPTour.com. “The atmosphere, the vibe, also was something else. I said to Sara that it was the loudest court I played. It was almost like a football match. But sometimes that can happen.”

It All Adds Up

Ahead of the match, the Italian’s colleagues had warned him to expect a special atmosphere. That proved to be the case.

“Everyone told me that it's the toughest court in the Australian Open because everyone is having fun, also outside of the court,” Vavassori said. “[The fans] were laughing, cheering, talking every point, also to me, so at the beginning it was not really easy to manage. But I think I did it in a good way. Sometimes, if you get upset, it's tougher to play. And I just enjoyed the moment with my partner and tried to focus to play in a good way. At the end of it, they were cheering also for me, so they changed the side of of the support. “

The No. 7 player in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings believed there were two ways to approach such a unique atmosphere. Vavassori could have gotten upset about it or embraced it.

“If you get upset about it, you always play worse than you can play. And if you manage in a good way, I think also the fans appreciate it, and at the end of the match, maybe they go to your side,” Vavassori said. “I think always if you stay calm and just try to focus on what we have to do, I think is always the best way.”

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Vavassori’s men’s doubles partner, Simone Bolelli, has seen a lot in his career. Although he was not at the match, he has been part of plenty of fun atmospheres having partnered Fabio Fognini for years.

“They played against the Australian guys yesterday, so it can happen. The bar was close to the court, drinking a lot, and the weather was hot, and everything can happen. But it's part of the game,” Bolelli said. “This is a big tournament, a big event. There are a lot of people coming to see the match, and the important thing is to stay focused, because it's easy to maybe get distracted, but they won a good match in the end.”

Entering the 2024 season, Vavassori was doubles World No. 44 and had never climbed higher than No. 41. But the Italians reached the final at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros to assert themself as a powerhouse team on the ATP Tour. Vavassori also partnered Errani to the US Open mixed doubles trophy.

Bolelli and Vavassori were voted as the Fans’ Favourite doubles team in the 2024 ATP Awards.

“Last year was amazing for me. So many results, also in the Grand Slams. The first Grand Slam with Sara, the two finals with Simo, the Finals in Turin. So I think it was a great experience for me,” Vavassori said. “Also my confidence on the court changed a lot. So it's also very good for me to start the year like this. A lot of wins. Also United Cup, Adelaide, here in the in the Slam. So I just get keep fighting, keep working hard, and see in the future what will be.”

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