Marco Cecchinato (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko tʃekkiˈnaːto]; born 30 September 1992) is an Italian professional tennis player.[1] He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 16 reached on 25 February 2019. On 29 April 2018, he won his first ATP World Tour title at the 2018 Hungarian Open as a lucky loser, becoming the first Sicilian tennis player to win an ATP title.[2] Cecchinato is a clay specialist and his best Grand Slam result is a semifinal at the 2018 French Open. At the other Grand Slams he has not won a match in singles.

Marco Cecchinato
Cecchinato at the 2018 French Open
Country (sports) Italy
ResidencePalermo, Italy
Born (1992-09-30) 30 September 1992 (age 32)
Palermo, Italy
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro2010
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CoachJulian Alonso & Eduardo Nicolas
Prize moneyUS $5,011,458
Singles
Career record78–127
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 16 (25 February 2019)
Current rankingNo. 372 (5 August 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
French OpenSF (2018)
Wimbledon1R (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023)
US Open1R (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023)
Doubles
Career record14–56
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 169 (27 June 2016)
Current rankingNo. 874 (1 July 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2016)
French Open1R (2018, 2019)
Wimbledon1R (2018, 2023)
US Open2R (2015, 2019)
Team competitions
Davis CupQF (2016)
Last updated on: 2 July 2024.

Career

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2013–2017: ATP and Grand Slam debut

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In May 2013, Cecchinato qualified for the main draw at the ATP tournament in Nice, losing to countryman and No. 6 seed, Fabio Fognini, in the first round.[3]

In July 2014, Cecchinato qualified for Umag, where he played another countryman and No. 6 seed, Andreas Seppi, in the first round. Cecchinato lost the match in three sets.

Cecchinato then made his Grand Slam debut at the 2015 US Open.

On 20 July 2016, Cecchinato was suspended for 18 months (until January 2018) and fined €40,000 by the Italian tennis federation for illegal behavior including match fixing and match betting.[4] The ban was overturned and declared a mistrial after the prosecutors took too long to complete the initial trial phase. Despite this, Cecchinato admitted to telling potential bettors of his poor physical state prior to a match.[5]

Cecchinato reached his first ATP quarterfinal at the 2016 Romanian Open.

2018: First two ATP titles, French Open semifinal, Top 20

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In March, he played and won a Challenger tournament in Santiago, defeating former top 5 player Tommy Robredo en route.

He won his first ATP title in Budapest after reaching the final as a lucky loser, having lost in the qualifying competition;[6] he thus became the ninth player ever to win an ATP tournament as lucky loser.[7]

At the 2018 French Open, the 72nd-ranked Cecchinato came from two sets down to win his first Grand Slam match against Marius Copil. In the second round, he defeated lucky loser Marco Trungelliti. In the third round, he came from a set down to topple 10th seed Pablo Carreño Busta.[8] In the fourth round, he beat 8th seed Belgian David Goffin in four sets.[9] He then upset former champion Novak Djokovic in four sets (with a 13–11 tiebreaker in the deciding set) to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.[10][11] His French Open run ended with a loss to Dominic Thiem.[12][13] His semifinal finish moved him to 27th in the world and enabled him, for the first time in his career, to be seeded at a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon. Despite his first Grand Slam seeding, he lost in the first round in four sets against the young Australian Alex de Minaur.

Later in July, however, Cecchinato achieved his second career ATP title at the Croatia Open, defeating Guido Pella in the final. As a result, he attained a career-best ranking of 22nd in the world.[14]

At the 2018 Shanghai Rolex Masters, the Italian defeated Gilles Simon and Chung Hyeon to reach the round of 16, where he fell to Novak Djokovic. As a result, he climbed to World No. 19 in the singles rankings on 15 October 2018.

2019: Third ATP title and career high singles ranking

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Cecchinato started his 2019 season in Doha where he reached the semifinals. That was his career best performance in a non-clay ATP tournament.

At the Australian Open, he lost to Filip Krajinović in the first round despite leading by two sets and having a match point in the fourth set. That was his third straight first round loss at a grand slam event.

During the Latin American clay court swing, Cecchinato won his third career ATP title at the Argentina Open, defeating Diego Schwartzman in the finals. Cecchinato didn't drop a set in the entire tournament, and lost just three games in a one-sided final. As a result, he also attained his career-best ranking of World No. 16 on 25 February 2019.[15]

2020–2021: Fourth and fifth ATP finals

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In 2020 season, which was affected by COVID-19 pandemic, he managed to reach his fourth ATP final at the inaugural Forte Village Sardegna Open in October, where he lost in straight sets to Serbian Laslo Đere.

In May 2021, he reached his fifth final at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open, losing to first time ATP winner Sebastian Korda.[16]

2022: Out of top 200, Two Challenger titles, back to top 100

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In May, he qualified and defeated former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem at the 2022 Geneva Open in the first round.[17]

In July, at the 2022 Croatia Open Umag he reached the quarterfinals defeating Lorenzo Musetti[18] before losing to Franco Agamenone.[19]

He re-entered the top 100 at No. 98 on 17 October 2022 following two Challenger titles in October.

2023: ATP semifinal, back to top 75

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He reached his first ATP semifinal since 2021 at the 2023 Estoril Open. At the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open he reached the second round defeating Marton Fucsovics. At the Italian Open he reached the third round defeating Mackenzie McDonald and 21st seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Performance timelines

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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.

Singles

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Current through the 2023 French Open.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q1 Q2 1R Q1 Q1 1R 1R 1R 1R Q1 Q1 0 / 5 0–5
French Open A A Q2 Q3 1R Q3 SF 1R 3R 3R 2R 1R 0 / 7 10–7
Wimbledon A A A A A 1R 1R 1R NH 1R A 1R 0 / 5 0–5
US Open A A Q2 1R A Q1 1R 1R 1R 1R A 1R 0 / 6 0–6
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–1 5–3 0–4 2–3 2–4 1–2 0–3 0–0 0 / 23 10–23
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A Q1 A A A 2R NH A Q1 A 0 / 1 0–1
Miami Open A A A Q1 A A A 3R NH A A A 0 / 1 0–1
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A 1R A 2R 3R NH 2R Q1 A 0 / 4 4–4
Madrid Open A A A A A A A 1R NH 1R A 2R 0 / 3 1–3
Italian Open Q2 Q2 1R Q1 1R A 2R 2R 2R Q2 A 3R 0 / 6 5–6
Canadian Open A A A A A A 1R 1R NH A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Cincinnati Masters A A A Q1 A A 1R 1R A A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Shanghai Masters A A A A A A 3R 1R NH A 0 / 2 2–2
Paris Masters A A A A A A 1R A 1R A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 4–6 3–8 1–2 1–2 0–0 3–2 0–0 0 / 23 12–23
National representation
Davis Cup A A A A QF A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–0
Career statistics
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Career
Tournaments 0 1 3 4 10 5 25 26 13 21 7 15 130
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3
Finals 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 5
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–4 3–10 1–5 23–23 12–25 8–13 16–21 4–7 11–15 0–0 78–127
Year-end ranking 409 163 159 90 187 109 20 71 80 99 105 198 38%

ATP career finals

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Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam (0-0)
ATP Masters 1000 (0-0)
ATP 500 Series (0-0)
ATP 250 Series (3–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (3–2)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (3–2)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Apr 2018 Hungarian Open, Hungary 250 Series Clay   John Millman 7–5, 6–4
Win 2–0 Jul 2018 Croatia Open, Croatia 250 Series Clay   Guido Pella 6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Win 3–0 Feb 2019 Argentina Open, Argentina 250 Series Clay   Diego Schwartzman 6–1, 6–2
Loss 3–1 Oct 2020 Forte Village Sardegna Open, Italy 250 Series Clay   Laslo Đere 6–7(3–7), 5–7
Loss 3–2 May 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open, Italy 250 Series Clay   Sebastian Korda 2–6, 4–6

Records

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  • These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
Tournament Year Record accomplished Player tied
Hungarian Open 2018 Winning an ATP tournament as lucky loser Heinz Gunthardt
Bill Scanlon
Francisco Clavet
Christian Miniussi
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Rajeev Ram
Leonardo Mayer
Andrey Rublev
Kwon Soon-woo[20]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 23 (13–10)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (7–9)
ITF Futures (6–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (13–9)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2012 Croatia F3, Umag Futures Clay   Andrej Martin 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Feb 2013 Croatia F1, Zagreb Futures Hard (i)   Damir Džumhur 2–6, 5–7
Win 2–1 Mar 2013 Croatia F3, Umag Futures Clay   Attila Balázs 6–4, 6–2
Win 3–1 Jul 2013 Italy F17, Modena Futures Clay   Dominic Thiem 6–3, 6–4
Win 4–1 Aug 2013 San Marino, San Marino Challenger Clay   Filippo Volandri 6–3, 6–4
Loss 4–2 Sep 2013 Sibiu, Romania Challenger Clay   Jaroslav Pospíšil 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Win 5–2 Mar 2014 Italy F6, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Dennis Novak 6–4, 6–2
Win 6–2 Mar 2014 Italy F7, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Roberto Carballés Baena 6–4, 6–1
Loss 6–3 Jun 2014 Mestre, Italy Challenger Clay   Pablo Cuevas 4–6, 6–2, 2–6
Win 7–3 Apr 2015 Turin, Italy Challenger Clay   Kimmer Coppejans 6–2, 6–3
Loss 7–4 Sep 2015 Genoa, Italy Challenger Clay   Nicolás Almagro 7–6(7–1), 1–6, 4–6
Win 8–4 Jun 2016 Milan, Italy Challenger Clay   Laslo Đere 6–2, 6–2
Loss 8–5 Sep 2016 Como, Italy Challenger Clay   Kenny de Schepper 6–2, 6–7(0–7), 5–7
Win 9–5 Mar 2017 Italy F5, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Andrea Basso 6–4, 6–1
Loss 9–6 May 2017 Ostrava, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Stefano Travaglia 2–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win 10–6 May 2017 Rome, Italy Challenger Clay   Jozef Kovalík 6–4, 6–4
Loss 10–7 Jun 2017 Todi, Italy Challenger Clay   Federico Delbonis 5–7, 1–6
Loss 10–8 Sep 2017 Como, Italy Challenger Clay   Pedro Sousa 6–1, 2–6, 4–6
Win 11–8 Mar 2018 Santiago, Chile Challenger Clay   Carlos Gómez-Herrera 1–6, 6–1, 6–1
Loss 11–9 Feb 2020 Punta del Este, Uruguay Challenger Clay   Thiago Monteiro 6–7(3–7), 7–6(8–6), 5-7
Loss 11–10 Oct 2021 Lošinj, Croatia Challenger Clay   Carlos Taberner w/o
Win 12–10 Oct 2022 Lisbon, Portugal Challenger Clay   Luca Van Assche 6–3, 6–3
Win 13–10 Oct 2022 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Challenger Clay   Yannick Hanfmann 4–6, 6–4, 6–3

Doubles: 9 (6–3)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (3–1)
ITF Futures (3–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (6–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Apr 2011 Italy F4, Rome Futures Clay   Francesco Aldi   Leandro Migani
  Filip Prpic
3–6, 6–3, [6–10]
Win 1–1 Jul 2011 Italy F17, Sassuolo Futures Clay   Francesco Aldi   Filippo Leonardi
  Jacopo Marchegiani
6–4, 6–3
Win 2–1 Aug 2011 Spain F27, Xativa Futures Clay   Francesco Aldi   Enrique Lopez-Perez
  Ivan Arenas-Gualda
6–4, 6–3
Win 3–1 Aug 2011 Serbia F8, Novi Sad Futures Clay   Matteo Civarolo   Marko Begovic
  Jeremy Tweedt
6–3, 6–1
Loss 3–2 Sep 2012 Todi, Italy Challenger Clay   Alessio Di Mauro   Martin Fischer
  Philipp Oswald
3–6, 2–6
Loss 3–3 Jul 2013 Italy F17, Modena Futures Clay   Matteo Fago   Omar Giacalone
  Daniele Giorgini
6–4, 6–7(5-7), [7–10]
Win 4–3 Sep 2014 Biella, Italy Challenger Clay   Matteo Viola   Frank Moser
  Alexander Satschko
7–5, 6–0
Win 5–3 Apr 2017 Barletta, Italy Challenger Clay   Matteo Donati   Marin Draganja
  Tomislav Draganja
6–3, 6–4
Win 6–3 Sep 2017 Sibiu, Romania Challenger Clay   Matteo Donati   Sander Gille
  Joran Vliegen
6–3, 6–1

Wins over top 10 players

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  • He has a 1–9 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
Season 2018 Total
Wins 1 1
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score MCR
2018
1.   David Goffin 9 French Open, France Clay 4R 7–5, 4–6, 6–0, 6–3 72
* As of 9 February 2021

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Marco Cecchinato – Profile". atpworldtour.com. ATP.
  2. ^ "Tennis, Cecchinato nella storia: vince a Budapest, primo successo in un torneo Atp di un siciliano" (in Italian). gds.it. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  3. ^ "ATP Nizza: grande Cecchinato, batte De Bakker e si qualifica". ubitennis.com (in Italian). UBISPORTING srl.
  4. ^ Marco Cecchinato: Italian given 18-month ban for match-fixing
  5. ^ Marco Cecchinato Acquitted Of Match-Fixing
  6. ^ "Cecchinato claims maiden title despite defeat".
  7. ^ "ATP Budapest: Lucky loser Marco Cecchinato wins the first ATP title". tennisworldusa.org. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018. Cecchinato is the ninth player in the Open era who won an ATP title as a lucky loser and the third in the last two seasons after Andrey Rublev and Leonardo Mayer in Umag and Hamburg last July.
  8. ^ "Roland Garros, impresa Cecchinato: Batte Carreno Busta e va agli ottavi. Fuori Berrettini". June 2018.
  9. ^ "French Open 2018: World number 72 Marco Cecchinato shocks David Goffin". BBC Sport. 3 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Unseeded Cecchinato shocks Djokovic". BBC Sport.
  11. ^ Burnton, Simon (5 June 2018). "French Open quarter-final: Marco Cecchinato stuns Novak Djokovic – as it happened". The Guardian.
  12. ^ "Unseeded Cecchinato shocks Djokovic". BBC Sport.
  13. ^ "Thiem beats Cecchinato to make final". BBC Sport.
  14. ^ "Satisfied Marco Cecchinato eager to continue his rise after Umag success". 24 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Cecchinato defeats Schwartzman to win the Argentina Open. | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  16. ^ "#NextGenATP Sebastian Korda Claims First Title in Parma | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  17. ^ "Marco Cecchinato Ousts Dominic Thiem in Geneva | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  18. ^ "Tennis, ATP – Croatia Open 2022: Cecchinato downs Musetti". 28 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Jannik Sinner Surges into Umag Semi-Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  20. ^ "History in Adelaide: Lucky loser Kwon becomes first Korean to win multiple ATP singles titles". 14 January 2023.
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