Valentina Sassi (born 12 July 1980) is an Italian tennis coach and an instructor of the

United States Professional Tennis Association The United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) is an organization which offers certification and professional development for professional tennis teachers and tennis coaches. The organization has approximately 13,500 members in the Uni ...

(USPTA). She is a former 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 and a doubles bronze medalist for Italy at the

2001 Mediterranean Games The XIV Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 2001), commonly known as the 2001 Mediterranean Games, were the 14th Mediterranean Games held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 2-15 September 2001, where 2,991 athletes ( ...

. Born in

Seravezza Seravezza is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany, Italy. It is located in Versilia, close to the Apuan Alps. Neighboring municipalities *Forte dei Marmi *Massa *Montignoso *Pietrasanta * Stazzema Patron saints Sera ...

, Sassi made her

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

main-draw debut at the

Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...

in 2001, as a qualifier. In 2002, she reached her best singles ranking of 144, making main-draw appearances at Oporto and Casablanca that year. Sassi, a right-handed player, won six singles and seven doubles titles on the

ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmental ...

, before retiring in 2008.

Career

Sassi started playing tennis when she was six years old before developing into a professional tennis player. She made her WTA Tour debut at the Madrid Open in 2000, and competed in the majors of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Australian Open, and the Internazionali di tennis in Rome. In 2004, she won the Italian Absolute Championships. At the peak of her career, Sassi played in doubles with players such as

Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...

Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...

Miroslava Vavrinec Miroslava "Mirka" Federer (born Miroslava Vavrincová on 1 April 1978, later Miroslava Vavrinec) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She is married to tennis player Roger Federer, having first met him at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She ...

Jelena Dokic Jelena Dokic ( sr, Јелена Докић, Jelena Dokić; ; born 12 April 1983) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator, writer, and former professional tennis player. Her highest ranking as a tennis player was world No. 4, in August 2002. ...

and

Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Mar ...

. She played 488 games with 60 per cent winning rate before quitting in 2006.

Coaching

Sassi moved to the United States in 2008 and started coaching tennis. Later, she joined

Rick Macci Rick Macci (born December 7, 1954) is an American tennis coach and former player. He is a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Master Professional, and seven-time USPTA national coach of the year who has trained five number one ra ...

tennis academy where she was involved in coaching players such as

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 ...

Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. C ...

and

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

. In May 2020, Sassi earned the title of International Professional Tennis Coach as Instructor of the

Italian Tennis Federation The Italian Tennis Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Tennis, FIT) is the national governing body for the Tennis sport in Italy. History The FIT was born in Florence in 1910 with just 26 affiliated clubs. Davis and Fed Cup ATP Cup United ...

USPTA, the highest level instructor of young tennis players.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 10 (6–4)

Doubles: 17 (7–10)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sassi, Valentina 1980 births Living people Italian female tennis players Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Italian tennis coaches Tennis coaches American tennis coaches Sportspeople from the Province of Lucca