Cina shows power of player pathway with maiden ATP Challenger title

It was a big weekend for Italy’s Federico Cina who saved five match points before winning his first singles title on the ATP Challenger Tour in the Indian city of Pune.

Cina, who reached the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open in January, defeated Great Britain’s Felix Gill 6-3 5-7 7-6(1) and has since risen to a career-high No. 183 in the ATP Rankings.

Such a milestone is an important moment in the career of any aspiring player and, in this case, it follows Cina winning two titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour – the main artery to the ATP and WTA Tours. He triumphed at M15 Buzau in 2024 and M15 Sharm El Sheikh last year.

Cina is very much a product of the ITF player pathway having reached No. 4 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings, while he was a member of the Italy team crowned boys’ champions at the 2021 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals.

The ITF World Junior Tennis Finals are the finale of the premier international team competition for players – boy and girls – aged 14 and under.

Many of today’s top players have honed their skills at this event before going on to represent their nations at senior level, as well as earning individual honours at the Grand Slams and on the ATP and WTA Tours.

The 18-year-old also represented Italy twice at the Davis Cup Junior Finals – the international team competition for boys aged 16 and under. He was part of the Italy team that finished runners-up to Czechia​ in 2023.

Cina also qualified for the 2023 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals – the junior equivalent of the ATP and WTA Finals. The ITF Junior Finals see eight of the world's best boys and girls from the previous year on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors do battle.