In the factory of the Italian tennis champions there are also three Sardinian coaches: Fabio Murgia (40 years old) from Samassi and Andrea (35) and Niccolò Liscia (36) from Gonnosfanadiga. Welcome to Bordighera, in the academy of Riccardo Piatti, the private coach who brought players of the caliber of Ljiubicic and Gasquet to the top of the world, currently guru of what many think can become the future number one in the world in a few years , the blue Yannick Sinner. And at the court of Piatti, when the coach of the champions was still working in his Como, a boy also passed who had escaped from Yugoslavia, the scene of the civil war, also with the aim of writing important pages of international tennis, Novak Djokovic, winner of 20 Grand Slam titles (for this reason, for those years spent in our country, he also speaks Italian so well).
"Four fields: not a huge club or an expanse of fields like in Florida by Nick Bollettieri: rather a highly organized, comfortable training center, designed for the needs of the players": this is how Fabio Murgia describes the structure which is located a short distance from the the oldest tennis club in Italy: "In Bordighera you can breathe an air of history", smiles the master of the island. Here was built the first tennis court in our country, in 1878 (the kit with net, rackets and balls came directly from England).
The path of the Sardinian technicians is quite similar: «After some experiences in the clubs of the island, certainly positive, we felt the need to try a further leap in quality», explains Fabio Murgia. "In summary, we wanted to see how a coach has to work with the projects of champions, with the guys who have decided to devote themselves completely to a sport with the aim of becoming professionals".
First a period as external observers, then the call of Riccardo Piatti himself: so Fabio Murgia was hired in August at the Bordighera Academy. "And I found two Sardinian friends, Andrea and Niccolò Liscia, who had already been here for a few years, to welcome me and make me feel at home".
The young aspiring tennis professionals admitted to the Bordighera Academy come from all over the world, including Sardinia. Among Piatti's students there is also Lorenzo Carboni from Algeria who won the Italian under 16 title a few weeks ago in Bologna and which promises really well. And even a Sardinian girl dreams of following in the footsteps of Anna Floris (ex 125 in the world) on the international circuit, Emma Manca.
«The secret of the Piatti Academy - continues Fabio Murgia is not really a secret: professionalism, study, commitment, this Piatti demonstrates every day in the field and asks his collaborators. We are fifteen technicians, under the orders of Andrea Volpini and Cristian Brandi, the international coaches who are most in close contact with Riccardo Piatti ».
You work in the field six hours a day, Saturday and Sunday included, three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon, the lessons at school for those who are following high school or high school are followed online, obviously also psychologists, nutritionists, trainers in the staff physicists and physiotherapists.
"A fundamental aspect of training - explains Fabio Murgia - is the work on some special fields equipped with a particular system of cameras connected to a computer, able to process the images of each shot, in each position of the field, and therefore to evaluate from the scientific point of view both the progress and the margins of progress of each individual student ».
Mouth sewn on the costs that parents of champions in pectore have to pay for full time tennis lessons at Riccardo Piatti's court. Figures in any case ad personam, which can even reach 30 thousand euros per year.
The technical staff of the Piatti Academy also follows the boys during the tournaments: with Carboni there was Niccolò Liscia himself, and the Sardinian band, one on the field, the other on the bench, won the under 16 tricolor tournament on the Virtus fields Bologna.
«It is a model - Murgia closes - that has not yet arrived in Sardinia. In our region there is currently no structure capable of following young people of a certain competitive level and who dream of becoming professionals ». And the history of Sardinian tennis bears witness to this: all the promises from the time of Maurizio Spiga (winner of the Italian under 13 title in 970, the Porro Lambertenghi cup ", Fabrizio Murgia, Stefano Mocci up to Daniele Piludu and Anna Floris were followed by Federation in technical centers or by private coaches.
The Cagliari Tennis club is trying to change course and to set up, thanks to the new coach Martin Vassallo Arguello, a technical center of a certain type. But the project started just a few months ago in order to already be able to reap important results.