Final preview from the Florence Challenger on clay, with form, serve and return numbers and a full Tale of the Tape for every match. Times are as listed by the tournament schedule and may move with the order of play.
Michele Ribecai vs Filippo Romano
🧠 Form & Context
Michele Ribecai
- 📊 Ranked No. 288 at 23, 4–6 in his last 10.
- ✅ Knocked out the in-form Houkes and Misolic on his way to the final.
- 🔁 A strong returner: 45% of return points won and 46.8% of break points converted.
- 🎾 Stronger on the second serve: 51.8% won.
- ⚠️ Has won only 30% of deciding sets this season.
Filippo Romano
- 📊 Ranked No. 301 at 21, 4–6 in his last 10.
- ✅ Beat Jianu, Milev, Donald and Kopp to reach the final.
- ⚔️ Won their only meeting, 7–5 6–4 at the Rome Challenger in April.
- 🚀 The bigger first serve: 70% won, with 66% of break points saved recently.
- ⚠️ Weak on return: 38% of return points won.
🔍 Match Breakdown
An all-Italian final between two players ranked side by side. Romano won their only meeting, in straight sets in Rome in April, but Ribecai is the favourite at 1.57.
Romano has the bigger first serve (70% vs 64.1% won) and has been saving 66% of break points recently.
The return is where Ribecai pulls clear: 45% of return points won against Romano's 38%, and 46.8% of break points converted against 40.3% – a big edge on clay.
Ribecai is also stronger on the second serve and has the better tiebreak (50% vs 44%) and best-of-three (61% vs 49%) records, though Romano has won 67% of his deciding sets this season.
Ribecai has the return and the all-round numbers; Romano has the serve and the head-to-head.
📊 Tale of the Tape
| Metric | Ribecai | Romano |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 288 | 301 |
| Age | 23 | 21 |
| Last 10 | 4–6 | 4–6 |
| Head-to-head | 0 | 1 |
| First serves in | 60.7% | 59.7% |
| 1st-serve points won | 64.1% | 70.0% |
| 2nd-serve points won | 51.8% | 48.6% |
| Break points saved | 56.9% | 59.5% |
| Break points converted | 46.8% | 40.3% |
| Return points won (career) | 45% | 38% |
| Tiebreak win % | 50% | 44% |
| Deciding-set win % (career) | 39% | 39% |
| Best-of-3 win % | 61% | 49% |
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