ORTISEI/STARNBERG, October 25, 2022

Andreas Seppi played the last singles match of his career Tuesday, losing to Yannick Hanfmann of Germany in the opening round of the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol. The 38-year-old from South Tyrol, a winner of 10 titles on the ATP Challenger Tour and three on the ATP Tour, decided to end his 20-year career at the €45,730 ATP Challenger Tour hard-court tournament in Ortisei, close to where he was born.

Seppi played 67 Grand-Slam tournaments and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 18 on 28 January 2013. The Bolzano native became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Seppi is the only player in the 12-year-long history of the event in Ortisei, who captured the title twice, in 2013 and 2014. The current World No. 310 also finished runner-up in 2012 and advanced to the quarterfinals five years later.

In front of more than 600 spectators at the the Tennis Club Ortisei, including Arno Kompatscher, President of the Province of Bolzano, his family, and friends from Caldaro, Seppi lost 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours of play.

Seppi found himself down 3-5 in the first set, but was able to win the opening set by saving four set points. In the second set it looked like he could make another comeback. From 1-4 down he went to 3-4, but with a break in the eighth game Hanfmann took a 5-3 lead and pushed the match the distance. The third set seemed to be heading in the right direction for Seppi, who had four game points for a 4-1 lead, but Hanfmann came back into the match and ended Seppi’s career.

“They have been fantastic years. I never thought I could play at this level until I was 38 years old. An important chapter of my life closes, but an even more beautiful one begins with my family,” Seppi said.

The end of a fabulous career ❤️

3 @atptour titles
10 #ATPChallenger titles
18 Best Ranking
386 ATP wins

Thanks for the memories, 🇮🇹 Andreas Seppi 👏 pic.twitter.com/GopvJypccT

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 25, 2022