Gianluca Rinaldini (born 10 August 1959) is a former professional tennis player from Italy.

Career

In 1981, Rinaldini appeared in the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

and Wimbledon Championships but was beaten in the opening round at both events, by

Pavel Složil Pavel Složil (born 29 December 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Složil enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won 32 doubles titles and finished runner-up an additiona ...

and Tim Gullikson respectively.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> Rinaldini had wins over

Alejandro Gattiker Alejandro Gattiker (born 5 May 1958) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Career Gattiker, having made it through qualifying, played Mike Myburg in the first round of the 1982 French Open. He was beaten in straight sets. The Ar ...

, Georges Goven and

Sergio Casal Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

en route to the semi-finals of the 1982 Florence Open, where he was beaten by eventual champion Vitas Gerulaitis. The Italian played in both the men's singles and men's doubles draws at the

1983 French Open The 1983 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 87th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Slam ...

. In the singles, he was defeated in the first round by Australian John Alexander and he was also unable to progress into the second round in the doubles, with partner

Claudio Panatta Claudio Panatta (born 2 February 1960) is an Italian former tennis player and younger brother of 1976 French Open champion Adriano Panatta Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. He won the French ...

Accident

On 28 September 1985, Rinaldini was seriously injured in a car accident near his hometown of

Faenza Faenza (, , ; rgn, Fènza or ; la, Faventia) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed eart ...

, caused by an exploding tyre. His car crashed into a guardrail and he suffered a cracked vertebrae. The accident left him with

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

and he has been using a wheelchair ever since.UBI Tennis: Il caso di Gianluca Rinaldini

Personal

He is the father of

Mattia Rinaldini Mattia Rinaldini (born May 31, 1980 in Faenza) is a retired Italy, Italian professional Association football, football player. External links

* 1980 births Living people Italian footballers Serie B players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players ...

, a footballer who played mostly for

A.S. Varese Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Varese Calcio, commonly referred to as Varese, was an Italian football club based in Varese, Lombardy. It was founded as Varese Football Club on 22 March 1910. It became Associazione Sportiva Varesina in 1923, ...

and A.C. Prato.

Challenger titles

Singles: (1)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinaldini, Gianluca 1959 births Living people Italian male tennis players People with paraplegia Sportspeople from Faenza