ATP Florence: Agassi blend just before the first title
Jeffrey John Wolf plays Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final of the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Florence today. The American has slowly but persistently worked his way up.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Oct 16, 2022, 06:44 am
Two years ago, Andre Agassi's former outfitter for the US Open ordered his players to wear a vintage edition, which Denis Shapovalov, for example, wore with great joy and dignity. For a while, Jeffrey John Wolf didn't need any suggestions from a clothing company to channel his inner Agassi: the mullet was like Andre's in his wild years.
Meanwhile, JJ has indulged in a casual short haircut. On the other hand, something daring that not even Andre Agassi is guilty of: Wolf likes to compete in sleeveless shirts. Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev have already done that - but these two travel through the tennis world as model athletes. Jeffrey John Wolf, on the other hand, still has room for improvement in physical terms.
Thiem beats Wolf in Winston-Salem
In terms of play, however, things are going pretty well for the 23-year-old from Cincinnati. Wolf spent the first part of the season mainly on the Challenger Tour, but was not only able to qualify in Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami, but also won a round afterwards. He did the same thing in Washington in the summer, and Dominic Thiem was also allowed to get to know Wolf in Winston-Salem. The Austrian only prevailed in the tie-break of the third set.
In the current week in Florence, Wolf is now facing the first big coup. The success in the semifinals against Mikael Ymer wasn't the outstanding result at all, rather the victories against Maxime Cressy in the round of 16 and then against Alexandr Bublik. In the live rankings, Wolf has already advanced to position 59, which will save him a few qualifying grinds in the future. If it actually works out with the first tour title in Florence, it would even go up to number 51.
In the final today, however, there is another really high hurdle: Félix Auger-Aliassime, who started in Florence as the tournament favorite. And on Saturday evening against a slightly injured Lorenzo Musetti, he confidently did justice to this role at 6: 2 and 6: 3. Of course, Wolf will go into the game as a big underdog against the Canadian. On the other hand: Auger-Aliassime has been in the final of an ATP tour event ten times so far. And could only win one of them: At the beginning of the year in Rotterdam.