Tennis Lessons, Italian Style

TORONTO – The recent success of Italy’s Tennis program is feeling a lot like a force majeure, arriving seemingly from nowhere. While the Men’s National soccer team is potentially on the verge of missing a third straight World Cup, its Tennis team just won its third consecutive Davis Cup. In more brusque terms, Italy’s Tennis team has swapped its “nobody” status with the Azzurri, becoming the nation’s true sporting powerhouse. Even films are starting to reflect a changeover in public interest.

Made for a relatively large budget [by Italian standards] of €11m, Andrea Di Stefano’s recently released film My Tennis Maestro follows Felice, a 13-year-old tennis hopeful being trained by a washed-up former champion (played by Pierfrancesco Favino). “The film is a tribute to the mentors who show up in unexpected ways, flawed, wounded, but full of heart”, says Di Stefano.

Pressured and under the cosh of his father’s grand plans, Felice is paired with a former pro – Raul Gatti – whose approach is far less rabid than his father’s. And the relationship between the two blossoms, partially, from an exploration of what it means to be masculine – through the lens of 1980s Italy. Gatti, played by Favino, charms with lines that seem torn from the crazy uncle playbook.

“Where’s the man behind the player?”, Gatti asks Felice while driving to training.  “One evening we’ll take a stroll in town wearing our tennis gear, offering free lessons to chicks? What do you say, just for kicks?”. When the young Felice declines, Gatti wryly responds with “Good I was testing you, let’s stay on track”.

While Di Stefano insists that he conceived of the film 15 years ago, Italy’s emergence as a dominant force in Tennis has opened a very profitable and advantageous window for its release. And in an industry like Italy’s where securing film financing is nothing more than a rat race, Di Stefano’s tennis project may never have been greenlit were it not for the sport’s recent rise in popularity (in Italy).

And while being a coming-of-age story and a drama about healing old wounds, Di Stefano’s depiction of the tennis world is anchored in reality – even his own. “I took inspiration from a real person, my tennis coach, and a large number of the scenes I’ve put in the film are situations that I directly experienced”.

My Tennis Maestro highlights the clash of youth and experience, the rigidity of a young man on a mission contrasted with the unconventional life of a former champion. But tennis isn’t just a backdrop or device to flesh out these themes. The sport is given its due with intensely shot scenes that virtually place audiences onto the court. It inspires a passion for the game that once upon a time, Italians felt about World Cup soccer.