Simone Bolelli

Began playing tennis at age seven in Bologna and admired Stefan Edberg and Patrick Rafter growing up...Father, Daniele, is a dentist; mother, Stefania, is an accountant...Has one older sister, Simona, who is a bank manager....Used to swim and play soccer as a youngster...Likes cinema (favorite movie is Gladiator), music (Queen, Michael Jackson) and chatting with friends online...Goal is to reach Top 10...Favorite shot is forehand and surface is hard courts...Has a 2-3 career Davis Cup record (2-2 in singles) in two ties...Coached by countryman and former ATP pro Claudio Pistolesi (since January 2006).

2003 -- Advanced to first SF at Egypt Futures #1 and QF in three other Futures events...

2004 -- Played entire season on Futures and Challenger circuits, winning titles at Italy Futures #8 and Italy Futures #15...Reached final at Belgium Futures #1...Advanced to first Challenger final at Brasov (l. to Ionita) and SF at Quito...

2005 -- Advanced to Trani Challenger final (l. to Dlouhy) and SF at Rimini and Tampere Challengers...

2006 -- Compiled a 32-15 record in Challenger level action, winning titles on clay in Biella (d. Minar) and Como (d. Luzzi)...Also reached finals in Bergama (l. to Bogdanovic) and Recanati (l. to Sanguinetti) and SF at Barletta and Genova...Made ATP debut at AMS Rome (as wild card) and lost to Verdasco in three sets...Qualified in Stuttgart (l. to Novak) and Vienna (l. to Hrbaty)...

2007 -- Finished in Top 100 for first time at No. 67 with a combination of success in ATP and Challenger tournaments...Went 9-15 in ATP level matches, including three in Grand Slam play and compiled a 22-6 mark in Challengers, winning two titles...In February, reached final at Bergamo Challenger (l. to Santoro) and following month won his first ATP matches at AMS Miami (d. Monfils and No. 22 Tursunov before falling to Ferrer in 3rd RD...In April, reached final at Casablanca Challenger (l. to Cilic) and followed with win over No. 26 Safin in Barcelona (l. to countryman Starace)...Returned to Challenger play in Tunis and won third career title (d. Pavel)...Made his debut at Roland Garros and defeated '03 finalist Verkerk before losing to Canas in 2nd RD...Also made successful debuts at Wimbledon with a four-sets win over Garcia-Lopez (l. to Hewitt in 2nd RD) and at US Open by defeating Benneteau (l. to No. 9 Berdych in 2nd RD)...Closed season with title at Bratislava Challenger (d. Falla)...In doubles, reached final at Genova Challenger (w/Cipolla).

2008

The No. 2 Italian (behind Seppi) finished in Top 50 for first time by winning a career-high 29 matches, 20 more than previous season...In February, reached his first ATP SF in Zagreb (l. to Stakhovskiy) and then in May advanced to first final in Munich (l. to Gonzalez)...In Grand Slam play, turned in personal-best 3rd RD showings at Roland Garros (l. to Llodra) and Wimbledon (l. to Hewitt) where he beat No. 14 Gonzalez in 2nd RD...Finished season by qualifying and reaching 2nd RD at AMS tournaments in Madrid (ret. vs. Murray) and Paris (l. to Blake) in between a QF in Basel (l. to Federer)...Went 0-12 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled marks of 13-8 on clay, 13-19 on hard and 3-3 on grass...Earned a career-high $657,826.