Stefano Napolitano (Italian pronunciation: [ˈstɛːfano napoliˈtaːno, ˈsteː-];[1][2] born 11 April 1995) is an Italian professional tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour and Junior Grand Slam finalist. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 121 on 17 June 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 182, achieved on 3 April 2017.

Stefano Napolitano
Country (sports) Italy
ResidencePollone, Italy
Born (1995-04-11) 11 April 1995 (age 29)
Biella, Italy
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro2012
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$ 802,129
Singles
Career record3–7
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 121 (17 June 2024)
Current rankingNo. 125 (15 July 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ3 (2024)
French Open2R (2017)
WimbledonQ3 (2018)
US OpenQ2 (2019, 2024)
Doubles
Career record1–3
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 182 (3 April 2017)
Current rankingNo. 1301 (8 April 2024)
Last updated on: 15 July 2024.

Career

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2015–2017: Major debut and first win, Masters debut

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Napolitano defeated Augusto Virgili in the qualifying of the 2015 Distal & ITR Group Tennis Cup 6–0, 6–3, winning the first set without dropping a single point, which is referred to as a golden set.[3][4]

He made his Masters debut at the 2017 Italian Open as a wildcard.

He also made his Grand Slam debut at the 2017 French Open after qualifying and recorded his first win over 31st seed Mischa Zverev.

2023

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Ranked No. 555, he entered the main draw of the 2023 Italian Open after qualifying, six years since his Masters debut at the same tournament in 2017, having received a wildcard for the qualifying competition.

He also qualified for the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters after Marc Polmans was disqualified in the last round of qualifications for hitting a ball at the umpire in frustration.[5]

2024: Top 125, first Masters wins

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Following his third Challenger title at the 2024 Open Comunidad de Madrid, he reached the top 125 on 15 April 2024.

He received a wildcard for the 2024 Italian Open and reached the third round defeating two lucky losers JJ Wolf and Juncheng Shang, recording his first Masters wins.[6]

Challenger and Futures finals

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Singles: 18 (6–12)

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Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (3–5)
ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (3–7)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–6)
Clay (2–5)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2014 Italy F2, Rovereto Futures Carpet (i)   Luca Vanni 3–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 May 2014 Israel F4, Ashkelon Futures Hard   Robin Kern 4–6, 1–6
Loss 0–3 May 2014 Tunisia F2, Sousse Futures Hard   David Pérez Sanz 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 4–6
Loss 0–4 Aug 2014 Romania F12, Mediaș Futures Clay   Filip Horanský 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6
Win 1–4 Mar 2015 Israel F2, Herzlia Futures Hard   Michal Konečný 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 1–5 Apr 2015 Italy F5, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Federico Gaio 2–6, 4–6
Loss 1–6 Sep 2015 Israel F12, Meitar Futures Hard   Michael Geerts 6–7(10–12), 2–6
Loss 1–7 Jul 2016 Todi, Italy Challenger Clay   Miljan Zekić 7–6(8–6), 4–6, 3–6
Win 2–7 Nov 2016 Ortisei, Italy Challenger Hard (i)   Alessandro Giannessi 6–4, 6–1
Loss 2–8 Feb 2018 Bergamo, Italy Challenger Hard (i)   Matteo Berrettini 2–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 2–9 Aug 2018 Lexington, USA Challenger Hard   Lloyd Harris 4–6, 3–6
Loss 2–10 Sep 2018 Biella, Italy Challenger Clay   Federico Delbonis 4–6, 3–6
Loss 2–11 Mar 2019 Shenzhen, China, P.R. Challenger Hard   Marcos Baghdatis 2–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 2–12 Jun 2023 M15 Frascati, Italy World Tour Clay   Julian Ocleppo 4–6, 5–7
Win 3–12 Jul 2023 M25 Biella, Italy World Tour Clay   Lorenzo Carboni 6–4, 6–0
Win 4–12 Oct 2023 M15 Selva Gardena, Italy World Tour Hard   Adrian Oetzbach 7–5, 6–4
Win 5–12 Feb 2024 Bangalore, India Challenger Hard   Hong Seong-chan 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Win 6–12 Apr 2024 Madrid, Spain Challenger Clay   Leandro Riedi 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 10 (4–6)

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Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (3–2)
ITF Futures Tour (1–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–3)
Clay (4–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 May 2012 Italy F9, Pozzuoli Futures Clay   Alessio di Mauro   Claudio Grassi
  Walter Trusendi
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–2 Jul 2012 Italy F19, Fano Futures Clay   Marco Viola   Matteo Volante
  Miljan Zekić
3–6, 6–7(3–7)
Win 1–2 Apr 2014 Italy F10, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Marco Bortolotti   Emanuele Molina
  Riccardo Sinicropi
6–4, 6–4
Win 2–2 Apr 2014 Vercelli, Italy Challenger Clay   Matteo Donati   Pierre-Hugues Herbert
  Albano Olivetti
7–6(7–2), 6–3
Loss 2–3 Sep 2015 Israel F12, Meitar Futures Hard   Michael Geerts   Jarryd Chaplin
  Ben McLachlan
6–7(5–7), 3–6
Loss 2–4 Apr 2016 Napoli, Italy Challenger Clay   Matteo Donati   Gero Kretschmer
  Alexander Satschko
1–6, 3–6
Win 3–4 Jul 2016 San Benedetto, Italy Challenger Clay   Federico Gaio   Facundo Argüello
  Sergio Galdós
6–3, 6–4
Win 4–4 Oct 2016 Rome, Italy Challenger Clay   Federico Gaio   Marin Draganja
  Tomislav Draganja
6–7(5–7), 6–2, [10–3]
Loss 4–5 Jan 2017 Nouméa, New Caledonia Challenger Hard   Adrián Menéndez Maceiras   Quentin Halys
  Tristan Lamasine
6–7(9–11), 1–6
Loss 4–6 Jan 2021 M15+H Bressuire, France World Tennis Tour Hard   Kenny De Schepper   Roy Smith
  Alafia Ayeni
6–7(4-7), 6-4, [5–10]

Singles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q2 Q2 Q2 Q1 A A A Q3 0 / 0 0–0
French Open A A 2R Q2 Q2 Q1 A A A Q2 0 / 1 1–1
Wimbledon A A Q1 Q3 Q2 NH A A A Q2 0 / 0 0–0
US Open A Q1 Q1 Q1 Q2 A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 1 1–1
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Madrid Open A A A A A NH A A A Q1 0 / 0 0–0
Italian Open Q2 A 1R A A A A A 1R 3R 0 / 3 2–3
Shanghai Masters A A A A A NH 1R 0 / 1 0–1

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2013 Wimbledon Grass   Enzo Couacaud   Thanasi Kokkinakis
  Nick Kyrgios
2–6, 2–6

References

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  1. ^ Luciano Canepari. "Stefano". DiPI Online (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  2. ^ Luciano Canepari. "Napolitano". DiPI Online (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  3. ^ "Il golden set di Stefano Napolitano" (in Italian). 2015-07-06. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  4. ^ Josh Meiseles (2015-07-09). "Thirty-Three Points Won In A Row? It Happened". Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  5. ^ "Tennis player Marc Polmans apologizes for hitting ball at umpire". Archived from the original on 2024-01-24. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  6. ^ "Defending champ Medvedev earns 100th Masters 1000 win in Rome". 11 May 2024.
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