By Giovanni Pelazzo, Ubitennis correspondent in Rotterdam
Q. Fabio, thank you for your availability and congratulations. Is it exciting for you to see Mattia play like this?
Fabio Chiappini: “For better or for worse, I’d say. In these days for the better, certainly, other times he makes us suffer a bit… but that’s the beauty of it.”
Q. Is there any aspect you have been working on in particular lately?
Fabio Chiappini: “At the end of the season we made a few mistakes, we ended the year badly. There was too much nervousness, too many ranking expectations. In fact, now our first rule is not to talk about ranking anymore, I don’t want to hear a word about ranking anymore.”
Q. Last year Mattia broke into the top 100, then he dropped out. Did this situation bother you a bit?
Fabio Chiappini: “Yes, because in the end we no longer were focused on playing and improving, using the matches as preparatory to the next ones, but they were lived as a single event that carried a great emotional burden. This was the problem and it also affected the beginning of 2025 in Australia. Our goal is to find a mental stability that can give us a continuous performance. Mattia won some great matches thanks to his mindset, but he lost others disastrously. We need to find the right balance.”
Q. And how do you find it?
Fabio Chiappini: “Working together with a dedicated professional. We try to find a structure of mental and behavioural serenity, because the result has always been a bit like Mattia’s sword of Damocles. Now we are professionals and we have to become a little more professional.”
Q. At the beginning of his career, perhaps Mattia’s problem was that of not feeling professional enough? Talking to him at the beginning of the week I almost had the impression he is boy who does not attribute the right value to himself, who does not realize how strong he is…
Fabio Chiappini: “When I talk about finding the right mental balance I mean precisely this aspect. Mattia goes through exaggerated peaks of self-esteem and other negative peaks that are absolutely not real. As an athlete you can make mistakes in games, no one is going to die. At the end of the day we are just hitting balls, we are not here to build bridges in seismic zones. He must understand it.”
Q. How do you step on court against Medvedev and Tsitsipas and how different is it compared to the first round of qualifying?
Fabio Chiappini: “It’s totally different. For Mattia it is almost better to face this kind of players, who relieve him of responsibilities …”
Q. In fact, I personally believed that it was better for him to face Tsitsipas, who has a more higher-sounding curriculum and surname than Griekspoor, for this very reason. Do you agree?
Fabio Chiappini: “Griekspoor is playing very well, let’s say that I was hoping for a tight third set! In fact, in my opinion Tsitsipas was a little bit tired yesterday, the three hours on court with Tallon took their toll. Mattia gets boosted in these situations, he tends to play better at the ATP level than at the Challenger level. Just remember that at Wimbledon he put up a five set battle with Shelton, as well as at Roland Garros with Tiafoe. At the US Open he beat Wawrinka. He is a big-stage animal.”
Q. Now his ranking is definitely improving…
Fabio Chiappini: “Come on! I didn’t know, that’s some news!” (he laughs).
Q. Really you didn’t know? Your scheduling will change, Mattia will certainly be in the main draw in Miami
Fabio Chiappini: “It’s true, but I still remain faithful to what I say to my group. All these things don’t bother me and shouldn’t bother them either: the fundamental goal is to raise the level. If we have the opportunity to face high-level players we can achieve this goal.”
Q. Does the exceptional moment of Italian tennis take some of the pressure off? Knowing that you have a world No. 1 and a world No. 4, a team that has won the last two Davis Cups and the BJK Cup… Maybe 15 years ago a 23-year-old who arrived on the scene beating Medvedev and Tsitsipas one after the other would have had more pressure on his shoulders.
Fabio Chiappini: “I don’t know, in my opinion it depends on the perspective. Maybe it can take pressure off you or give you even more, because you want to compete against other Italians. The real thing is that the federal structure, with Filippo Volandri, is always supporting us all. Especially when we lose we have no pressure, there are people within the federal structure who are doing a great job. They are close to us, providing athletic training, psychologist… In Rotterdam, for example, there was the physiotherapist of the Federation, it’s a lot of stuff honestly”.
Q. Since you mentioned Filippo Volandri, even if it is certainly too soon to talk about it, for a guy like Mattia who plays so well on indoor hard courts can you dream of Davis?
Fabio Chiappini: “Davis is a real dream for Mattia, he always tells me that. He would go on foot to play it but also just to cheer for his teammates”.
Q. How you would describe Mattia in three words?
“He’s a good guy, he’s special, very sensitive!”
Translated by Kingsley Elliot Kaye
