Duvier Medina: from the Davis Cup to the ATP Challenger at Villa Reale Tennis in Monza

He picked up his first racket at the age of 6 and a half, on the clay courts of the Caibarien club, the city on the northern coast of Cuba where he was born. At that time, "I hit the ball over there, as I learned to say here in Italy. I admired Wilander, Lendl and Becker", then the talent of Duvier Medina he has matured. And at 14 he joined the athletes of the Escuela superior de perfecionamento atletico, at 18 with the Cuban national team he took part in the Davis Cup and in international tournaments on the ITF circuits and ATP satellites in Central America, South America, Africa and Europe. These are the years that led him to obtain the best results of his international career. In 1988 Medina was among the top 50 players in the world in the ITF Junior ranking in both singles and doubles. In 1991 he was number 811 in the ATP Entry Ranking Single, the following year he was number 834 in the ATP Entry Ranking Double. Then, however, "I hurt my shoulder and back and unfortunately I was never able to return to certain levels". But tennis "was my world". And it continued to be so even when he arrived in Italy, 26 years ago. First at the Villasanta club, for about ten years at the Royal Villa Tennis, in the gardens of the royal palace of Monza. With passion and sacrifice, together with the team of teachers he managed to gather, he made a school grow - the V-Team - which today has almost 600 adults and, above all, over 700 children: "We teach them commitment, perseverance, determination, respect, sportsmanship and the desire to win, every day. With sacrifice". And when the possibility of organizing in 'his' club theATP Challengers 100 immediately understood that it was a 'game' to take home. Winning serve, to use tennis jargon. And "we all hope it can remain in the club's calendar, thanks also to the sponsors who support us today and who we hope will remain at our side with enthusiasm to help us improve".

The Challenger level "is already excellent. Maybe we could get to a Challenger 125, but we have to stay in this dimension also due to a space problem". His gaze goes beyond the surrounding wall of the club and as the crow flies he turns towards the Royal Villa. In the middle, there is the old rink, abandoned for years, of the glorious Monza hockey team. In an ideal world that space could be enhanced with a field that would have the palace as a backdrop. "Fascinating. But let's keep our feet on the ground, for next year we will have to make some small improvements to the current fields".