ROME/WASHINGTON, May 8, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Wins on the ATP Tour have been few and far between for Matteo Arnaldi this year. The affable 25-year-old Italian has dealt with a persistent right foot injury, which plagued him at the start of the 2026 season and caused his ranking to dip outside of the ATP Top 100.
However, the native of Sanremo, a coastal city in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy, situated on the Italian Riviera, is starting to turn things around now that he’s back home playing on red clay in Italy – and healthy, too.
One thing is certain: Arnaldi, who announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Mia Savio last September, has enjoyed his homecoming in Italy the past two weeks, playing in front of Italian fans once again.
“It’s very nice to be here,” the 106th-ranked Arnaldi said during a sit-down interview Wednesday evening with Tennis Channel. “It’s been a tough year up to now – end of last year and start of this year – but playing back-to-back at home, Cagliari where I won the Challenger title and here is very nice. I’m getting such good support. It’s nice to play back in front of your people.”
First win of the year at home @mattearnalds overcomes Munar 6-3, 3-6, 6-3#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/m73bUcmETh
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 6, 2026
First, after failing to qualify for the main draws at Barcelona and Madrid, Arnaldi resurfaced at the Sardegna Open in Cagliari last week and won the ATP Challenger 175 event, where he found his form. He defeated Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the final, 6-4, 6-4, to cap his fifth-straight victory of the tournament. Best of all, Arnaldi was finally able to play without pain in his foot.
Now, Arnaldi has moved into the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, after receiving a wild card entry into the main draw. On Wednesday, Arnaldi earned his first tour-level victory since Vienna last October with his 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over No. 38 Jaume Munar of Spain in two hours and 33 minutes on Campo Centrale, the largest show court at Foro Italico. It lifted his PIF ATP Live Ranking back into the Top 100 at No. 98.
Against Munar, Arnaldi was in good control of the match during the first set. He was strong off his first serve before he lost some of his momentum during the middle set. Then, the 6-foot-1-inch, 170-pound Italian picked up the pace in the third set and won going away. By the end of the match, Arnaldi won 73 percent (44 of 60) of his first-serve points, hit 33 winners to 29 unforced errors, and converted two of seven break points. Total points were even at 90.
“It was a tough match,” Arnaldi explained. “We’ve played a lot of times, so I know [Jaume] very well. Cagliari gave me a lot of confidence – I’m slowly getting back to the tennis that I want to play and used to play – so, I was hitting good at the start. Then, it was very different conditions. It was windy, then raining. It wasn’t easy to play. I feel like I made the right choices in the third set and it paid off.”
’ di Matteo dopo la vittoria #IBI26 pic.twitter.com/0FLfQhfbHT
— FITP (@federtennis) May 6, 2026
The victory over Munar was Arnaldi’s second Top-50 win of the season after defeating No. 49 Nuno Borges of Portugal last week en route to winning the Cagliari Challenger title.
“For me, it was a matter of staying in each match [in Cagliari] and playing every point,” Arnaldi said. “In the first match, I lost the first set to someone who was ranked 400th.” I still had a little bit of pain.” The player in question was 441st-ranked Italian Federico Arnaboldi, whom Arnaldi beat 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2.
Being there in a Challenger, down a set, I didn’t know if I wanted to continue. ‘Should I practice and try to get better or should I go and play the match?’ I stayed there, tried to win the matches … Slowly, the confidence came back. I was making good shots. …
“Tennis is a tough sport. One day you’re losing to someone who can be worse than you and the next day you play your best match and win the tournament. Tennis is crazy.”
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Indeed, Arnaldi twice has reached the second round at Rome, in 2023 and 2024, but never gone further. On Friday, he faces World No. 8 and sixth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, whom he lost to in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open on a hard court. This will be their first meeting on clay – and Arnaldi, no doubt, will have the Italian crowd lifting him in support of his effort to advance to the third round in Rome for the first time. Arnaldi and de Minaur will contest the opening match of the day on BNP Paribas Arena, the second-largest show court.
“To me, I like to play in front of them. I like the energy,” Arnaldi said of the Italian fans. “You understand what they’re saying, but sometimes they don’t always say nice stuff when you miss something.
“At the end, it’s a sport and it’s the people. It’s nice to have the support. In important moments, they stand for you.”
