Since I started Broken Rackets, my relationship with the city of Rome has changed. I grew up playing basketball; only in the past five years have I started playing tennis. I’ve started to enjoy Rome as a tennis city—something that I never experienced before.
In Milan, the courts get covered during the winter, but in Rome, the courts are open all year long. It feels easier to play in Rome, because there are way more tennis facilities. To me, tennis always has to be played outdoors.
One of my favorite tennis clubs in Rome is the Sant’Agnese Tennis Club,
a beautiful club surrounded by Roman ruins and greenery. It’s located 15 minutes from my family house. Now every time I drive by I think to myself, “Why didn’t I play here when I was younger?” And I get a bit frustrated because I play tennis everywhere I go in the world and I personally always research beautiful tennis courts. So knowing that one of my favorites is just so close to the house I grew up in, and me not knowing about it for all those years, makes me wish I started younger.
The most iconic tennis court in Foro Italico is the open-air Pietrangeli stadium at the Rome Masters. Named after Italian tennis legend Nicola Pietrangeli, the stadium is encircled by classical marble statues placed by Mussolini during his era. When you’re sitting on those sunken marble seats, you really feel like you’re sitting in history. I’ve watched so many battles there over past three years. The atmosphere is very special and the crowd is so loud—probably the loudest I have ever heard on tour.
Rome has many magical moments for me as a true Roman. I have so many memories of this city; I feel like I grew up in a museum almost. The beauty, the architecture make it so special. One of the streets that I feel more attached to is Via Margutta, where the artists used to reside.
Italian tennis is living a renaissance moment right now. Not only because
of Jannik Sinner, but also for the other players like Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Ber- rettini, Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli, and women like Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani. It was incredible to see that Italy won the latest Malaga Davis Cup, both men’s and women’s. Our tennis coaches are also part of this incredible success, from Piatti and Vagnozzi with Sinnerto Tartarini, Santopadre, Renzo Furlan. They’ve all contributed to the success of Italian tennis. For sure the future will be even brighter because lots of kids are inspired to play tennis because of this national success. Can’t wait to see who’s going to be the big next one.
I started Broken Rackets because I wanted to capture this sport with a contemporary approach, giving it a new aesthetic. I come from a background of fashion and portrait photography, so it can sometimes be a challenge to apply my approach to tennis, a world that has (obviously) been associated solely with sports photography. But the industry is evolving, and we’re excited to be a part of it. With Broken Rackets, what brings me energy is how we connect tennis with different sectors beyond the sport itself, such as travel, fashion, hospitality. One of the most beautiful things I’ve found from Broken Rackets is connecting with people and places you wouldn’t think of otherwise, using tennis as a platform.
Emanuele D’Angelo is a photographer, creator of Broken Rackets and a native son of Rome.
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