When Giulia Gatto-Monticone won her final qualifying match on Thursday to secure herself a spot at Wimbledon for the first time, the Italian couldn’t wait until the following morning to visit the All England Club.
She wrapped up her victory over Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin, showered, grabbed a bite, then made the trip from Roehampton to Wimbledon at 5pm to get her first glimpse of the iconic site.
“I took a photo near the court and I watched some guys hitting around the grounds... it's a dream. Everything here is perfect, from the court, the organisation, the garden, the flowers, it's unbelievable,” Gatto-Monticone told wimbledon.com ahead of her first round against Serena Williams on Tuesday.
At 31, Gatto-Monticone is living proof that it is never too late to make changes in your life in order to chase your dreams.
Just three years ago, she had a career-threatening left wrist injury that drove her to contemplate walking away from the sport. She was 28, had never cracked the top 200, and felt so much pain when hitting her backhand.
“The easy way was to give up,” she said. “But it was not my way, because I like too much to play tennis. I started when I was four, so it's my life. So I think my power was this, the passion and never giving up, and continuing to believe in this dream.
“I think we have a lot of power inside of us, but we just didn't know how much. We have to find it, we have to think inside,” she explained, while referencing Juan Martin del Potro, who has undergone four wrist surgeries, as well as a recent knee operation.
“Del Potro is so unlucky because he got injured a lot but he also has a lot of power inside him, he's an unbelievable man. Because I think you have to be a great person first and to have a strong mind to play and continue day by day through the injuries.”
Instead of tapping out, Gatto-Monticone decided to make the necessary adjustments to keep playing despite her injury.
She had a meeting with her coach Tommaso Iozzo, who is also a psychologist, and her trainer Stefano Pucci, and they formed a plan.
“Three years ago I said, 'I have to change something, do my best',” she recalled. “I had to change my mind and say, 'Giulia come on, if you want to play you have to change, for sure, because if you stay like this, you'll have to give up'. It was like my last chance. It's what I had to do.
“It was so difficult at the time because technically I changed the grip for my backhand, and I changed the strings and the racquet. So I said it's a new start for me. We did a lot of mindfulness work, to learn my body through these changes, appreciate what I have to do and what I am.”
We have a lot of power inside of us but we just didn't know how much. We have to find it, we have to think inside
The hard work is now finally starting to pay off.
After 15 years as a pro on tour, Gatto-Monticone qualified for her first-ever Grand Slam last month at Roland-Garros. When she went to Nottingham two weeks ago to contest the qualifying grounds it was the very first time the Italian had played a tournament on natural grass. She won one match, then had a bad fall that injured her knee, forcing her to retire from her second one.
Gatto-Monticone admitted that she surprised even herself by winning her three Wimbledon Qualifying matches and she now faces one of the sport’s greatest players at the sport’s most prestigious tournament.
“I think Serena doesn't need words because she's the queen, she's the queen also here in this tournament. She's an unbelievable player, I'm so excited to play against her,” she said.
“I think I have to just do my best, and try to enjoy my time here, in this club, in this court. For an Italian to play on the grass, it's so elegant, it's an unbelievable dream. So I want to concentrate on what I have to do.
For an Italian to play on the grass, it's so elegant, it's an unbelievable dream. So I want to concentrate on what I have to do
“I started last year to say, 'I'm so glad to come here and I want to play relaxed'. Enjoy everything, without stress, without anything, only to appreciate it to play tennis, and I think that's been the key.”
Hailing from a small town just outside Turin called Castiglione Torinese, Gatto-Monticone grew up idolising Marcelo Rios and Kimiko Date. It’s an exciting time for the city of Turin, with the ATP Finals heading its way in 2021. Fellow Torinese, Lorenzo Sonego, just picked up his first ATP title on the grass courts of Antalya on Saturday as well. Gatto-Monticone is happy to play a part in the city’s tennis movement.
Bracing herself for a dream match-up against Serena on Tuesday, Gatto-Monticone is not worrying too much about where this experience could take her.
“Come on, I'm in the best tournament in the world, the one that everybody dreams about. I'm just so excited, I have no more words,” she says with a big grin on her face.