HighFIVE: Andreas Seppi
It’s not often a world-class player moves into your neighborhood, but Boulder residents are getting used to seeing former world no. 18 Andreas Seppi on the courts, often hanging out at practices and sharing advice with young players.
The 35 year-old Italian is still competing on the tour — he’s currently ranked inside the top 75 with a recent win against top 10 Karen Khachanov. When he arrived in Boulder with his wife who was earning her Master’s degree at CU in 2017, they didn’t intend for Boulder to become their home. It reminded them of their home in the Dolomites, so they made a plan to stay.
“Andy is always willing to spend time at our junior High Performance practices and our USTA junior tournaments, sharing advice with young players, and he is always willing to sign autographs. They (along with wife, Micky, who earned her Masters at CU) are just a wonderful family,” Kendall Chitambar, Director of Tennis at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center explained.
Kendall & Donna Chitambar and Duke Paluch (RMTC owners), and the entire staff at RMTC have welcomed the Seppis with open arms and want to create an environment, surrounded by his biggest fans, where the entire Colorado community can be a part of his incredible tennis journey (which has recently included an ATP Challenger Tour title in Cary, NC and an incredible run to the semis of the Moscow ATP 250.
They work hard to provide a roster of hitting partners that is really solid including Joey Diaz, Richard Johnson, Simon Hegelund, Kendall Chitambar, CU Assistant Coach Jovan Parlic, Lucas Dages, and a few top juniors, now college players, Jack Moldenhauer, Kap Smith, Casey Ross, and Bradley Mittelman.
Colorado itself provides another benefit in that hitting at altitude for his three times yearly 3-6 weeks training schedule puts him in peak shape when he returns to lower altitudes.
“Having spent years between Colorado fall, winter, and spring and Connecticut summers, I truly believe there is something incredibly unique and powerful about training at altitude and competing at sea level, Kendall explained. “At altitude you fight for consistency. At sea level you can swing for the fences and the ball stays in! At altitude you build oxygen-deprived endurance. At sea level, you feel like Iron Man! Whenever Andy is coming off a training period in Colorado, his fitness is that much stronger in his matches at sea level.”
While Colorado is a home away from home currently, the Seppis are looking to eventually settle down here. They have bought a ranch close to Boulder where they will be building a resort style lodge.
As for his future impact in Colorado?
“We will get the great honor of him stopping in from time to time and we get to be part of his pathway- his tennis journey. It’s really something special,” Kendall said.
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