Simone Bolelli (; born 8 October 1985) is an Italian professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. Bolelli is a
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
champion, having won the
2015 Australian Open
The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Stan Wawrinka was the def ...
doubles event with
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, together becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a Grand Slam title in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
. He has a career-high ATP ranking in doubles of World No. 8 achieved on 17 August 2015 and in singles of World No. 36 achieved on 23 February 2009.
Career
2003
In 2003, Bolelli reached his first
ITF Futures tournament semifinal at
Egypt F1, losing to 485th-ranked
Jaroslav Pospíšil
Jaroslav Pospíšil (; born 9 February 1981) is a Czech tennis player playing on the ITF Futures Tour and ATP Challenger Tour. On 23 May 2011 he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 103. The following year, on 1 October 2012, h ...
. He played entirely Futures events except for one Challenger tournament in
Brindisi.
2004–2005
In 2004, Bolelli reached his second Futures final, losing to
Dominique Coene. He made another final and won two Futures titles, making two wins out of three finals for Futures finals in the 2004 season. He won the
Italy F15 and F8 titles, and lost in the final of a Challenger event in
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...
.
In 2005, Bolelli reached the final of a Challenger in
Trani.
2006: ATP debut
Simone Bolelli played in a few tournaments higher than a Challenger, reaching the quarterfinals in doubles on his Masters 1000 debut partnering with
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player.
He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Tennis ca ...
as alternates pair at the
2006 Monte Carlo Masters and also receiving a wildcard into the singles and doubles (w/ Seppi) main draws at the
2006 Rome Masters.
He also won the
Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...
Futures tournament and made the final of
Recanati
Recanati () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, ...
, before losing to
Davide Sanguinetti
Davide Sanguinetti (; born 25 August 1972) is an Italian former professional male tennis player.
Personal life
Born in Viareggio in Tuscany, he attended the Harry Hopman academy in Florida and then UCLA. He now resides in Monte Carlo.
Tennis ...
. He won his first Challenger singles title over
Ivo Minář, and then made the final of a Challenger in
Bergamo where he lost to
Alex Bogdanović
Aleksa Bogdanovic ( sr, Алекса Богдановић, Aleksa Bogdanović; born 22 May 1984) is a retired Serbian-born English tennis player and former UK no 2. On the professional tour, he won 9 Challenger titles and 4 Futures events, but ...
.
2007: Grand Slam debut in singles
Bolelli beat former world no. 1
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
in Barcelona and competed in the Miami, Rome and
Hamburg Masters
The Hamburg European Open (formerly ''German Open Tennis Championships'') is an annual tennis tournament for professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Before 2021, it was a mal ...
.
He made his Grand Slam debut at the
2007 French Open
The 2007 French Open (Roland Garros) was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June 2007. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Björn Borg, 1978–81; and maintained his unbeaten run at Rol ...
.
2008: First singles final
In May, Bolleli reached his maiden final at the clay-court
2008 BMW Open tournament in Munich, where he was defeated by
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career he made it to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the ...
.
In September, Simone Bolelli was banned by The Italian Tennis Federation from national team events for skipping the
Davis Cup tie with
Latvia in Europe-Africa zone relegation playoff. The ban prevented Bolelli from playing in Davis Cup competition and the Olympics. It also prevented him from getting wild cards. Bolelli said that he had told Italy captain
Corrado Barazzutti
Corrado Barazzutti (born 19 February 1953, in Udine) is a former tennis player from Italy. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 7, achieved in August 1978.
After his player career Barazzutti was non-playing captain of the Italy Davis C ...
well in advance of the tie that he preferred to work on his fast-court game in Asia.
2009: Top 40 singles ranking
2010–15: Major doubles title, three ATP 250 titles
At the
2015 Australian Open
The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Stan Wawrinka was the def ...
, Bolelli and
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
captured their first Grand Slam championship doubles title. The Italian duo, playing their ninth major together, defeated French pair
Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (; born 18 March 1991) is a French professional tennis player. In doubles, he has completed the Career Grand Slam with titles at the 2015 US Open, the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, the 2018 French Open, the 2021 French Op ...
and
Nicolas Mahut
Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...
in straight sets 6–4, 6–4 in the final. They also reached the semifinals of the
2015 French Open
The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of ...
and three Masters finals at the
2015 Indian Wells Masters,
2015 Monte-Carlo Masters and
2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters
The 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the seventh edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2015 ATP World Tour. It took place at Qi ...
.
2016: First ATP 500 title
In February 2016, Bolleli won his second biggest title in doubles at the ATP 500
2016 Dubai Tennis Championships with
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player.
He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Tennis ca ...
.
2021: Wimbledon semifinal and three titles
In 2021 Bolleli won two clay titles with new partner
Máximo González
Máximo González Mereira (; born July 20, 1983, in Tandil) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 58, achieved in July 2009 and his career-high doubles ranking is World No. 22 achieved on 22 Ap ...
at the
Chile Open (tennis) and
Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma and one grass title at the first edition of the
2021 Mallorca Championships
The 2021 Mallorca Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the inaugural edition of the Mallorca Championships, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2021 ATP Tour. It was held at the Santa Ponsa Te ...
after the walkover from the wildcard pair
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
/
Carlos Gómez-Herrera and reached two other finals. He returned to the top 50 in doubles at World No. 46 on 28 June 2021.
Having never passed the second round and not played for five years at the
2021 Wimbledon Championships
The 2021 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentlemen's singles title to cl ...
, Bolleli most successful run with his partner was to the semifinals of the Major where the unseeded pair was defeated by fourth seeded pair and eventual runners-up
Marcel Granollers and
Horacio Zeballos
Horacio Zeballos Jr. (; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 39 achieved in March 2013 and his career-high doubles ranking is world No. 3 achieved in September 2019. In dou ...
. As a result, he raised to No. 32 in the doubles rankings on 12 July 2021. He returned to the top 30 in the doubles rankings on 26 July 2021.
2022: Major quarterfinal, Second ATP 500 title
Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (1 title)
Masters 1000 finals
Doubles: 3 (3 runners-up)
ATP career finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Doubles: 22 (10 titles, 12 runner-ups)
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 24 (14–10)
Doubles: 13 (7–6)
Performance timelines
Singles
Notes
2009 Wimbledon Championships
The 2009 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 123rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...
counts as 1 win, 0 losses. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
received a walkover
John_Carpenter_was_disqualified,_prompting_his_teammates_John_Taylor_(athlete).html" ;"title="John_Carpenter_(athlete).html" "title="Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres">men's 400 metres running in a walkover. Americ ...
in the second round, after Bolelli withdrew.
Doubles
''Current through the
2022 Davis Cup.''
References
External links
*
*
*
Bolelli recent match resultsBolelli world ranking history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolelli, Simone
1985 births
Living people
Hopman Cup competitors
Italian male tennis players
Olympic tennis players of Italy
Sportspeople from Bologna
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Italian expatriates in Monaco
Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Italy
Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games
Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis
Australian Open (tennis) champions