Paolo Lorenzi (; born 15 December 1981) is an Italian former professional tennis player and former Italian number 1. He was coached by Claudio Galoppini. At the age of 34 years and seven months, Lorenzi became the oldest first-time champion in ATP history when he won the title at the 2016 Generali Open Kitzbühel.
Career
Lorenzi reached his first ATP World Tour final at the age of 32, in São Paulo. Here, at the 2014 Brasil Open, the Italian reached the semifinals of an ATP Tour tournament for the first time, upsetting Juan Mónaco in three sets; then progressing to the final after the retirement of Tommy Haas in the second set of their semifinal match. He went on to lose the final to Argentine Federico Delbonis in three sets.
On 22 May 2015, after defeating Matthew Ebden in the quarterfinals of the Eskişehir Cup, Lorenzi became the third player ever to win 300 matches in the ATP Challenger Tour tournaments.
At age 34, on 24 July 2016, Lorenzi won his maiden ATP title, defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili in the final at the Generali Open Kitzbühel and becoming the oldest first-time champion in ATP history. On 1 August 2016 he overtook Fabio Fognini becoming the new Italian No. 1 in the Association of Tennis Professionals ATP ranking at the age of 34 years old and 8 months at No. 40.
He was the 32nd seed in the 2017 Miami Open but lost in the 2nd round. He also entered 2017 Wimbledon Championships as the 32nd seed where he recorded his first win by beating Horacio Zeballos in four sets, he then advanced to the 2nd round where he lost to Jared Donaldson in 4 sets.
Lorenzi recorded the best grand slam singles performance of his career, reaching the round of 16 at the 2017 US Open. He lost to eventual runner-up Kevin Anderson in four sets.
In 2018, Lorenzi claimed his 20th Challenger title in Sopot, Poland.
Lorenzi lost in the third round of qualifying of the 2019 US Open, but received an invitation to compete in the main draw as a lucky loser upon the withdrawal of Kevin Anderson due to injury. In the first round, he came from two sets down to win in five against Zachary Svajda. In the second round he defeated Miomir Kecmanović in five sets to advance to the third round of the US Open for the second time in his career. He was defeated by Stan Wawrinka in the third round.
At age 39, on 26 August 2021, Lorenzi retired from professional tennis. His final match was a loss to Maxime Janvier in the second round of the 2021 US Open Qualifying Tournament.
ATP career finals Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–3)Titles by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (1–3)Grass (0–0)Titles by settingOutdoor (1–2)Indoor (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Brasil Open, Brazil250 SeriesClay (i) Federico Delbonis6–4, 3–6, 4–6Win1–1Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Austria250 SeriesClay Nikoloz Basilashvili6–3, 6–4Loss1–2Ecuador Open, Ecuador250 SeriesClay Víctor Estrella Burgos7–6(7–2), 5–7, 6–7(6–8)Loss1–3Croatia Open, Croatia250 SeriesClay Andrey Rublev4–6, 2–6
Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–2)Titles by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (1–2)Grass (0–0)Titles by settingOutdoor (1–1)Indoor (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Chile Open, Chile250 SeriesClay Potito Starace Juan Mónaco Rafael Nadal6–2, 6–4Loss1–1Brasil Open, Brazil250 SeriesClay (i) Diego Schwartzman Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah4–6, 2–6Loss1–2Argentina Open, Argentina250 SeriesClay Íñigo Cervantes Huegun Juan Sebastián Cabal Robert Farah3–6, 0–6
Challenger and Futures finals Singles: 44 (25–19) Legend (singles)ATP Challenger Tour (21–18)ITF Futures Tour (4–1)Titles by surfaceHard (4–3)Clay (21–16)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Italy F5, SelargiusFuturesHard Rodolphe Cadart0–6, 3–6Win1–1Croatia F3, NašiceFuturesClay Sebő Kiss4–6, 6–0, 6–0Win2–1Australia F4, FrankstonFuturesClay Vasilis Mazarakis6–4, 7–6(7–4)Loss2–2San Luis Potosí, MexicoChallengerClay Rainer Eitzinger4–6, 7–6(7–5), 5–7Win3–2Tarragona, SpainChallengerClay Younes El Aynaoui6–4, 7–6(7–4)Win4–2Italy F2, TrentoFuturesHard (i) Philipp Oswald7–6(9–7), 7–6(9–7)Win5–2Alessandria, ItalyChallengerClay Simone Vagnozzi4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)Win6–2Ivory Coast F1, AbidjanFuturesHard Valentin Sanon6–3, 6–4Loss6–3San Luis Potosí, MexicoChallengerClay Santiago Giraldo2–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6Loss6–4Tenerife, SpainChallengerHard Marco Chiudinelli3–6, 4–6Win7–4Reggio Emilia, ItalyChallengerClay Jean-René Lisnard7–5, 1–6, 6–2Win8–4Rijeka, CroatiaChallengerClay Blaž Kavčič6–3, 7–6(7–2)Win9–4Ljubljana, SloveniaChallengerClay Grega Žemlja1–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–2Loss9–5Tarragona, SpainChallengerClay Daniel Gimeno Traver4–6, 0–6Loss9–6Pereira, ColombiaChallengerClay Santiago Giraldo3–6, 3–6Win10–6Rimini, ItalyChallengerClay Federico Delbonis6–2, 6–0 Win11–6Pereira, ColombiaChallengerClay Rogério Dutra Silva7–5, 6–2Win12–6Ljubljana, SloveniaChallengerClay Grega Žemlja6–2, 6–4Loss12–7Salinas, EcuadorChallengerClay Guido Pella6–1, 5–7, 3–6Loss12–8Guadalajara, MexicoChallengerHard Thiago Alves3–6, 6–7(4–7)Loss12–9San Luis Potosí, MexicoChallengerClay Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo6–3, 3–6, 4–6Loss12–10Sarasota, USAChallengerClay Sam Querrey1–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6Win13–10Cordenons, ItalyChallengerClay Daniel Gimeno Traver7–6(7–5), 6–3Loss13–11Todi, ItalyChallengerClay Andrey Kuznetsov3–6, 0–2 ret.Win14–11Medellín, ColombiaChallengerClay Leonardo Mayer7–6(7–5), 6–7(4–7), 6–4Loss14–12Guayaquil, EcuadorChallengerClay Leonardo Mayer2–6, 4–6Loss14–13Bucaramanga, ColombiaChallengerClay Alejandro Falla5–7, 1–6Win15–13San Luis Potosí, MexicoChallengerClay Adrián Menéndez Maceiras6–1, 6–3Win16–13Cali, ColombiaChallengerClay Víctor Estrella Burgos4–6, 6–3, 6–3Loss16–14Guayaquil, EcuadorChallengerClay Pablo Cuevasw/oWin17–14Eskişehir, TurkeyChallengerHard Íñigo Cervantes Huegun7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)Win18–14Cortina, ItalyChallengerClay Máximo González6–3, 7–5Win19–14Pereira, ColombiaChallengerClay Alejandro González4–6, 6–3, 6–4Win20–14Medellín, ColombiaChallengerClay Gonzalo Lama7–6(7–3), 2–0 ret.Loss20–15Bogotá, ColombiaChallengerClay Eduardo Struvay3–6, 6–4, 4–6Win21–15Canberra, AustraliaChallengerHard Ivan Dodig6–2, 6–4Loss21–16Bucaramanga, ColombiaChallengerClay Gerald Melzer3–6, 1–6Win22–16Caltanissetta, ItalyChallengerClay Matteo Donati6–3, 4–6, 7–6(9–7)Win23–16Caltanissetta, ItalyChallengerClay Alessandro Giannessi6–4, 6–2Loss23–17L'Aquila, ItalyChallengerClay Facundo Bagnis6–2, 3–6, 4–6Win24–17Sopot, PolandChallengerClay Daniel Gimeno Traver7–6(7–2), 6–7(5–7), 6–3Win25–17Cordenons, ItalyChallengerClay Máté Valkusz6–3, 3–6, 6–4Loss25–18Savannah, USAChallengerClay Federico Coria3–6, 6–4, 2–6Loss25–19Manerbio, ItalyChallengerClay Federico Gaio3–6, 1–6
Doubles: 12 (9–5) Legend (doubles)ATP Challenger Tour (7–4)ITF Futures Tour (2–1)Titles by surfaceHard (2–2)Clay (7–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1China F1, ShenzhenFuturesHard Giancarlo Petrazzuolo Yu Xinyuan Zeng Shaoxuan6–7(1–7), 6–7(3–7)Win1–1China F2, DongguanFuturesHard Giancarlo Petrazzuolo Frederik Nielsen Rasmus Nørby6–4, 7–6(7–1)Win2–1Italy F2, TrentoFuturesHard (i) Giancarlo Petrazzuolo Xavier Audouy Ludovic Walter6–3, 4–6, [10–8]Loss2–2Rome, ItalyChallengerClay Giancarlo Petrazzuolo Flavio Cipolla Simone Vagnozzi3–6, 3–6Win3–2San Benedetto, ItalyChallengerClay Júlio Silva Cătălin-Ionuț Gârd Max Raditschnigg6–3, 7–5Win4–2Orbetello, ItalyChallengerClay Giancarlo Petrazzuolo Alessio di Mauro Manuel Jorquera7–6(7–5), 3–6, [10–6]Win5–2Asunción, ParaguayChallengerClay Fabio Fognini Carlos Berlocq Brian Dabul6–3, 6–4Win6–2Barranquilla, ColombiaChallengerClay Flavio Cipolla Alejandro Falla Eduardo Struvay6–3, 6–4Win7–2Rijeka, CroatiaChallengerClay Júlio Silva Lovro Zovko Dino Marcan6–3, 6–2Loss7–3Bucaramanga, ColombiaChallengerClay Miguel Ángel López Jaén Ariel Behar Horacio Zeballos4–6, 6–7(5–7)Win8–3Cortina, ItalyChallengerClay Matteo Viola Lee Hsin-han Alessandro Motti6–7(5–7), 6–4, [10–3]Loss8–4Monterrey, MexicoChallengerHard Fernando Romboli Thiemo de Bakker Mark Vervoortw/oWin9–4Sarasota, USAChallengerClay Martín Cuevas Luke Bambridge Jonny O'Mara7–6(7–5), 7–6(8–6)Loss9–5Rome, ItalyChallengerClay Juan Pablo Varillas Sadio Doumbia Fabien Reboul6-7(5-7), 5-7
Performance timelines
Singles Tournament200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021W–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAQ1Q11RA1R1RA2R1R2R1RQ3Q2Q12–7French OpenQ3Q2Q31RQ21R1R1R1R1R2R1RQ1Q1Q11–7WimbledonQ2Q1Q11RQ11R1R1R1R1R2R2R1RNHQ12–9US OpenQ1Q2Q1AQ21R1R2R1R3R4R2R3R1RQ29–9Win–loss0–00–00–00–30–00–40–41–31–42–46–42–42–20–10–014–33Career statisticsTitles–Finals0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–10–01–00–20–00–00–00–01–3Year-end ranking294207841431086410964684043109115146260
Doubles Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018W–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian Open1RAA2RA1R1R1R1R1–6French Open2RA1R2RAA1RQF1R4–6WimbledonA1R1R1R1RA1R1R1R0–7US OpenAAA1RAA1R2RA1–3Win–loss1–20–10–22–40–10–10–43–40–36–22
References
External links