Andreas Seppi's last dance

Neither the organizers of the ATP tournament in Florence nor those in Naples granted Andreas Seppi a wildcard in the main draw on his farewell tour. A decision that caused international headaches and one that does not do justice to the incredible career of Italy's long-time number 1. At least the Kalterer native can now say goodbye to the sport in a place that is not only his second home, but with which he also has many fond sporting memories: he won the tournament in Val Gardena twice. It is unclear whether a third title will be added this week. What is certain, however, is that Seppi will do everything he can to delay his career for as long as possible.

The 38-year-old will meet the German Yannick Hanfmann on Tuesday at around 19 p.m. at the start of the tournament in Ortisei. The veteran has already competed against the clay court specialist, who is currently number 154 in the world: In 2017, Hanfmann won the Challenger tournament in Bergamo in two clear sets. The 30-year-old is the slight favorite in the duel, although he only played on South American clay in the period after the US Open. But be careful: Seppi knows the conditions in Ortisei inside out, and he recently made a good impression in the Florence qualifying against eventual semi-finalist Mikael Ymer. Driven by his own fans, he can be expected to surprise. A world career Regardless of the outcome of this match, Seppi can look back on an outstanding career. The father of two has won three tournaments, played over 800 matches at ATP level - and, above all, took part in 67 Grand Slam tournaments. A statistic that impressively reflects the Kalterer's consistency. Seppi was in the top 810 of the world rankings for exactly 100 weeks. He beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. And: He is viewed as an example and a role model by competitors and coaches around the world.

Ivan Ljubicic, former world-class player and long-time Federer coach, recently described the South Tyrolean as follows: “Andreas Seppi is one of those people you take as a role model and dream of your children becoming like him,” writes the Croatian: “An example that you can be 'normal' and also have an incredible career, without drama, without artificial attention. Grande Seppio, he deserves a lot of respect.” If that’s not a fitting final word.

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Andreas Seppi's last dance

This week one of the greatest South Tyrolean sports careers of all time comes to an end. After more than two decades, Andreas Seppi says goodbye to tennis at the Challenger tournament in Ortisei.

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