Mattia Bellucci's Creative (and Effective) Tennis
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The 23-year-old from Busto Arsizio seems like a player from another era. He reads Dostoevsky and Murakami, and on the court he knows how to be whimsical and lively. And with his shots he even managed to make the Wimbledon crowd lose their classic composure
Mattia Bellucci is pure air for those who still believe that it is possible to design a creative and at the same time effective tennis, that the circuit is not yet a monopoly of baseline hitters, all physicality and heavy balls, and of players who seem to be built with artificial intelligence, who do not let any emotion shine through.
The tennis of the 23-year-old from Busto Arsizio, in the province of Varese, is imaginative, fun, lively , encapsulated in the spectacular diving backhand volley that on Wednesday, in the second round of the Championships, caused the stands on court 12 to lose their Wimbledon-like composure for a moment.
“After a bad period, I’m finding my game again,” Bellucci said at the end of the match won in three sets against the number 23 in the world ranking, Jiri Lehecka. The Czech, who is not an easy opponent to face on grass, is coming from the final at Queens, lost against the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz only in the third set. On the court, Bellucci, currently number 66 in the ATP ranking, offers a tennis of white gestures, caresses and embroidery, he looks for the beau geste, but also for it to be effective, and when at the end of the match a group of Italian fans encourage him to go “under the curve”, he leaves his racket near his chair, takes off his wristband, and goes to celebrate with them, like an Inter striker, of whom he is a huge fan, at the end of a magical night at San Siro.
“I feel like I'm seeing 'El Chino' Rios. Same left-handed, but Mattia is nicer,” joked a Wimbledon regular in the stands on Wednesday. The victory over Lehecka, “perhaps the most important of my career,” said the Italian tennis player, gave him a sumptuous third round on Court 1, the most important court after Centre Court, against home idol and British number 2 Cameron Norrie – robotic, boring, the exact opposite of Bellucci – against whom she fought on equal terms for two sets (and during which she had several unexploited break points), before giving in in the third.
“Playing a third round of a slam, especially Wimbledon, with a player like Norrie, but also the two previous matches, are definitely great experiences. I have never found myself playing on a stage like that, on Court 1, with the stands full,” Bellucci said after his match with Norrie on Friday, before adding: “From this Wimbledon, I take away the awareness that in some cases things can depend on me, that I lost a match in which I had some opportunities. It is clear that things can go much better than they did, so I hope this is just a starting point.”
The awareness acquired during the 2025 Championships also finds its roots in the first round played at Roland Garros against Jack Draper, the English number one, when he decided to close a set with a serve from below, eliciting applause and "oh là". there” of the crowd at the Suzanne Lenglen, the second most prestigious court at the French Open. “I’m working to find consistency, and after a couple of bad defeats I consider today’s match as the first of a newfound positive state, I also feel more serene,” said the Italian tennis player.
A bit Agassi with his 90s bandana, a bit Ivanisevic, Bellucci seems like a player from another era , who loves to wear old McEnroe and Sampras shirts during training. Mattia cares a lot about style. The confirmation is the collaboration with CP Company, the Italian sportswear brand founded in 1971 by Massimo Osti, who designed for Wimbledon especially for him a total white technical kit, polo, shorts and an overshirt with the iconic Goggle lenses, together with an exclusive limited edition bag. A way to tell a new form of sporting classicism, respecting the grammar of white of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. “CP Company represents the world of tennis well thanks to research and to the continuous innovation of the materials used in their clothing. Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Bologna to visit their archive and it was a great emotion, like taking a journey through time. I showed them their jackets that I used to buy as a kid,” Bellucci said in a chat with Rivista Undici. “The beautiful thing about CP Company, in my opinion, is that it can be found a bit in my game. We both combine the past with evolution. In my way of playing tennis, I believe that tradition and innovation meet, for example through my serve and volley or the changes of pace with the backhand slice,” he said
added Bellucci. During tournaments, while most players isolate themselves in a bubble to find energy, the left-handed player from Busto Arsizio goes to museums to get inspiration for his tennis.
In Paris, he revealed that he is a reader of Dostoevsky and Murakami, and on his right arm he has a traditional Japanese style tattoo representing the god of thunder and lightning and the god of wind (Raijin and Fujin). When asked what he would have become if he had not taken the path of professional tennis, he answers: "I would have liked to work in the world of sneakers and design". Mattia Bellucci, always with style.
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