Who is Federico Cina? 2007-born Italian talent who counts Novak Djokovic as his hero making Miami Open history

One of the leading talents in action this evening at the Miami Open is making history in 17-year-old Federico Cina who hails from the land of Jannik Sinner but has Novak Djokovic as his hero.

Djokovic triumphed at the Miami Open for the first time back in 2007 and it was the first of his record 40 ATP Masters 1000 titles. But two days before Cina was born. They are now competing at the same ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Cina made the most of his wildcard defeating Francisco Comesana who in reality made more history in fact for smoking a cigarette courtside than winning anything against Cina who prevailed 7-6(4), 6-2. It was the teen's first win over a top 100 player.

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He suffered with cramp during the tie going through the rigours that all tennis players go through.

“I was like, ‘Wow’, because I didn't expect [it], because I really couldn't move anymore,” Cina said as per ATP. “But I was very happy.”

In terms of his tennis background, his father Francesco Cina is his coach. He cracked the top 500 and as a result his son took up the sport. He reached World No.4 last January in Juniors. He advanced last week to his first ATP Challenger Tour final in Hersonissos, Greece.

He defeated Aslan Karatsev en route and could join the 11 Italians in the top 100. Sinner of course is the top name. He has previously trained though with Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. He is competing for the first time with the likes of Djokovic and Alcaraz.

Next up is a certain Grigor Dimitrov who Cina will see as a different much difficult target than his previous tie but one he will hope to crack on his development journey.

“[It is] so cool, because I've always seen them in TV. I never saw them in person,” Cina said. “But it is so cool and I'm taking in every moment here.”

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