Rising star Cina to make Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros
Rising star Federico Cina of Italy will make his Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros, which gets underway on Sunday, after navigating three rounds of qualifying on the clay courts of Paris.
The 19-year-old recovered from a set down to defeat Canada’s Alexis Galarneau 5-7 6-2 7-5 in the final round of qualifying to successfully advance to the men’s singles main draw.
Cina, who is currently ranked No. 216 in the ATP Rankings having earlier this season reached a career-high No. 183, lost in qualifying at this year’s Australian Open and the 2025 US Open.
This is the latest step in what has already proved a big year for Cina, who in March saved five match points before winning his first singles title on the ATP Challenger Tour in the Indian city of Pune.
Such a milestone is an important moment in the career of any aspiring player and 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.