Tonino Zugarelli has always been defined as the fourth man of the Italian Davis Cup team capable of winning the historic event in 1976. The former Italian player had to make an infinite number of sacrifices to be able to play tennis and, unlike many other colleagues, did not have the opportunity to grow up in a rich environment.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Zugarelli expressed his point of view on modern tennis and talked about the players capable of entertaining the crowd even for not always sporting merits.
Hwe said: “Mind you. I think Jannik Sinner is a great champion, but if I have two players up front and I can choose, I like those who have imagination. Is Nick Kyrgios crazy? Is Fabio Fognini crazy? He may be, but people are having fun.
Or I look at Carlos Alcaraz. I’m not saying I don’t like Sinner. I say that between him and Matteo Berrettini, I prefer an ace and a volley of the other. The show is free market.”
Zugarelli: “Sinner? I prefer to watch Kyrgios and Alcaraz!”
Zugarelli focused on the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian tennis players from Wimbledon. “Is it Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev’s fault if their government invaded Ukraine? Tennis players should be asked to play, not to sign statements against this or that head of government.
There is an international federation. If he wants to keep them out, the decision has to come from there. We too were asked to take a stand. It was convenient for the left to use our victories to pose a political question.”
He also said: “I was not Gerulaitis, me, rich in family. I was born on the edge. I took the ball from the rich who played. This is how I approached tennis. As a ball boy. I was not wealthy like Nicola Pietrangeli and even Panatta was privileged compared to me: he was the son of the caretaker of the Parioli club, at least a fixed salary in the house entered.
My father was a carpenter. In the morning he only left the house if there was work. I was born in an abusive one-room house with a tin roof, made in four and four, where there were five of us.”