Lorenzo Sonego

Lorenzo Sonego (; born 11 May 1995) is an Italian professional tennis player. Sonego has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 21 achieved on 4 October 2021. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of No. 60 achieved on 12 September 2022. Sonego made his ATP main-draw debut at the 2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where he received a main-draw wildcard.

Early life

Sonego was born in Turin, Italy. He began playing tennis when he was 11 years old, encouraged by his father Giorgio and his coach Gipo Arbino. A fan of Italian football club Torino, he played for the Torino youth academy between the age of six and 13 before focusing on tennis.

Career

2016–2017: ATP Tour debut and first Challenger title

He made his ATP Tour debut in May 2016 at the Italian Open, where he received a wild card and lost against João Sousa in the first round.

On 17 October 2017 he won his first Challenger title, defeating Tim Pütz at the 2017 Sparkassen ATP Challenger.

2018: Grand Slam debut

Sonego started his Grand Slam career with a win over Robin Haase at the 2018 Australian Open. He was then defeated in the second round by Richard Gasquet.

Sonego entered 2018 Wimbledon as a lucky loser after being defeated by Ernest Gulbis in the third round of qualifying. He was defeated by Taylor Fritz in the first round in straight sets.

2019: First ATP title, Masters 1000 quarterfinal

Sonego, as a qualifier, reached the quarterfinals of Monte-Carlo, upsetting 8th seed Karen Khachanov on the way. He lost to eventual runner-up Dušan Lajović in straight sets.

Sonego won his first ATP title in Antalya, Turkey in June 2019, defeating Serbian Miomir Kecmanović in three sets in the final.

2020: French Open fourth round, ATP 500 final, win over World no. 1

Sonego made a career-best 4th round appearance at the 2020 French Open, defeating Emilio Gómez, Alexander Bublik, and 27th seed Taylor Fritz before losing to 12th seed Diego Schwartzman in straight sets. His match against Fritz had the longest tiebreak in French Open history in the third set, finishing eventually with a 19–17 score in favor of Sonego.

At the 2020 Erste Bank Open, Sonego, as a lucky loser, shocked world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-2 6–1. It was only Djokovic's third loss of the year. Sonego went on to make the final of the event, but lost to fifth seed Andrey Rublev 4–6, 4–6.

2021: Wimbledon fourth round, Masters 1000 semifinal, top 25 debut

At the 2021 Sardegna Open in April, Sonego won both the singles and doubles titles. As a result, he achieved career-high singles ranking of world No. 28 and doubles ranking of No. 132 on 12 April 2021.

In Rome, Sonego scored his second top-10 win over Dominic Thiem, beating him in 3 sets in a match lasting over 3 hours. As a result, he made his second Masters quarterfinal, where he beat 7th seed Andrey Rublev, his third top-10 win. In the semifinal, he once again faced World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic but lost in 3 sets.
At the French Open, Sonego lost in the first round to Lloyd Harris in straight sets.

In June, he reached his fourth final in his career and second for 2021 at the 2021 Eastbourne International where he lost to Alex De Minaur.

Following his fourth-round showing at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships for the first time in his career, he reached a career-high of World No. 25 on 9 August 2021.

2022: Drop in rankings, out of top 50, third ATP title

Sonego started his 2022 season at the Sydney Classic. Seeded fifth, he reached the quarterfinals where he lost to top seed and eventual champion, Aslan Karatsev. Seeded 25th at the Australian Open, he made it to the third round where he was defeated by Miomir Kecmanović.

Seeded fourth at the Córdoba Open, Sonego lost in the quarterfinals to sixth seed, last year finalist, and eventual champion, Albert Ramos Viñolas. Seeded third at the Argentina Open, he reached the semifinals where he was eliminated by second seed and defending champion, Diego Schwartzman. Seeded sixth at the Rio Open, he fell in the second round to qualifier Miomir Kecmanović. At the Mexican Open, he lost in the first round to qualifier J. J. Wolf. Representing Italy in the Davis Cup tie against Slovakia, Sonego played one match and lost to Filip Horanský. In the end, Italy won the tie over Slovakia 3-2. Seeded 21st at the Indian Wells Masters, he was ousted from the tournament in the second round by Benjamin Bonzi. Seeded 19th at the Miami Open, he lost in the second round to American qualifier Denis Kudla.

Sonego started his clay-court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Seeded 16th, he lost in the second round to Laslo Đere. Seeded 11th at the Barcelona Open