He may be known as the Roger Federer of beach tennis – and there is no rush to ditch such an association – but Italy’s Alessandro Calbucci believes he has greater similarities with another of the sport’s greats.

Calbucci is steeped in beach tennis folklore and, despite celebrating his 40th birthday in December, the four-time world champion’s ability to chalk up titles and accolades shows no sign of slowing.

For the fourth time in his career, Calbucci was the year-end No. 1 following an impressive 2019 which, among other successes, saw him triumph at the ITF Beach Tennis World Championships in Terracina alongside Michele Cappelletti.

The tennis calendar is currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but once it is reinstated Calbucci says there is potential for his previously successful partnership with fellow Italian Marco Garavini to be reprised. And as with Federer, the opportunity to lift silverware will no doubt beckon once more.

Of those comparisons with 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer, Calbucci told itftennis.com: “People refer to me as the Roger Federer of beach tennis because of my style, results, the glamour and so on.

“I like this because I am a Federer fan 100 per cent and I am an ambassador and icon of the sport. Maybe, though, technically speaking, my game is more like Novak Djokovic’s.

“It is more like Djoko’s given my consistency and I have a great return. Also, I would score nine out of 10 in everything, but 10 out of 10 in nothing.”

Whether Federer or Djokovic, the individual Calbucci most admired growing up was not a tennis player of any description, but former AC Milan and Netherlands striker Marco van Basten.

During his formative years, Calbucci was on the books of Ravenna Football Club, his hometown team whose senior side at the time competed in Serie B – the Italian second division.

To his own admission he was a “pretty good footballer”, although by the age of 18 his life was heading in a different direction and education was an increasingly significant priority.

Sport took something of a backseat for the man who holds a PhD in political science from Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, although a whole new world was about to present itself.

Like most first and second-generation beach tennis players, according to Calbucci, he had barely held a tennis racket previously but was about to embark on a journey which would see him secure a global profile.

“I started accidentally. I used to go back to Ravenna from university for the summer and I saw some of my former football teammates playing beach tennis,” said Calbucci, who was in his mid-twenties by this stage. “When they recognised me, they invited me to play.

“I started to hit a few balls on the beach but, while I missed playing sport, I wasn’t really a fan to begin with. I kept playing though, got some good results and started to get more involved.

“Around that time, beach tennis as a sport started to grow quickly and I began to invest more time and energy into it. It wasn’t too long before I loved it and chose it as my life.”

Choosing beach tennis as his life is no exaggeration. From having a hit with friends on a Ravenna beach, an unrivalled number of accolades followed, including a maiden ITF Beach Tennis World Championships title in 2011.

Calbucci ranks that triumph in Rome as one of the highlights of his silverware-laden career, while back-to-back world titles followed in 2013 and 2014 as he prevailed alongside Garavini.

A fourth arrived last year, as did six other titles, all of which is a far cry from a frustrated ex-footballer turning his hand at beach tennis all those years ago.

“Back then, I would not believe all that has happened since,” added Calbucci. “You have good expectations and ambitions but I wasn’t feeling at that time that I had great potential.

“Nor did I feel the sport had such potential. It was more of a local sport, more of an Italian game than a global game, with maybe some tournaments in Reunion and France.

“But then I started to travel around, spreading the sport everywhere, and was part of the evolution of the sport. I am proud of my part in doing that.”

His association with the sport is greater than his on-court accomplishments. Calbucci, who now lives in Rio de Janeiro, has established beach tennis coaching academies in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Aruba, Italy and Thailand.

Alongside his continued thirst for trophies, widening the reach of beach tennis and nurturing the next generation of talent are key priorities, which he intends to pursue vigorously.

“Beach tennis is very attractive and has huge potential as a sport,” he said. “It has grown a lot, not just in Italy but in Brazil and South America. It is very contagious and a way of life.

“Seeing how much beach tennis has expanded is something that I am very proud of and the motivation to grow the sport will go on.

“I just want to play and win the best tournaments while helping to establish beach tennis in new places. This is such an important part of my life now. There are many places I have not visited yet to promote beach tennis.”

This is interview is one of a number to feature in the latest edition of ITFWorld. A copy of the spring issue of ITFWorld can be viewed here.