Friday, 04/06/2012

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - They are stories of perseverance. Stories about growing up, becoming men and being a part of a family. One-by-one, we hear from them. These are the Miami Hurricanes...

The U is a way of life.

I began communicating with Coach Rincon last semester, and once we got the credits all sorted out I was able to come to the U. I transferred from a small school in Boca where I completed a year and a half.

The University of Miami is the best university. The people, the education, the athletics make it the best place you can be.

My favorite color is orange. It’s my school color, too.

I look up to my brother. I started playing tennis thanks to him. He’s seven years older than me, so when I was 5 or 6 he was about 13 and was playing tennis already.

When I’m not playing tennis I’m listening to music, hanging out with my teammates and friends.

If I could have any superpower it would be teleportation.

My teammate that would win Dancing with the Stars is Diego Soto. He’s always doing some moves!

Before every match I do breathing exercises to help myself relax.

When I was younger I wanted to be a tennis player. I’ve always wanted to be a tennis player. I also wanted to be a soccer player.

My favorite quote is “never give up.”

Back home in Italy, I left behind my mom, my dad and my older brother.

After college I want to try to turn pro for a year or two years and go on the tournament. Then, who knows!

My favorite movie is The Gladiator.

Nobody knows that I can cook. I don’t make anything crazy, but I like to make pasta.

If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life it would be meat. Any kind of meat. Steak, steak, steak every day and every night. If you gave me steak at 9 in the morning I would eat steak at 9 in the morning. In fact, I’ve done it!

The best thing about Miami is the restaurants and the beach. I love South Beach.

Right now I’m listening to “Glad You Came” by The Wanted.

Winning a match feels good, but it’s even better if we all win. If you win but the team loses, yes it feels good, but your team lost. It’s better when you can win as a team.

Miami tennis is a big program. It’s a great program.

My guilty pleasure is ice cream. I love vanilla and chocolate.

After a really stressful match I go back home, relax, throw on the TV and go straight to bed.

When I want to laugh I go bother either Omar or Mark. They’re both fun to mess around with, and they always make me laugh.

My teammates are fighters.

Tennis has given me a lot of connections and friends. It’s made me stronger. I started playing in tournaments when I was 14, and that’s when I left home. So it helped me grow.

I miss my friends back home, but it’s great here. The weather, people and language are the biggest changes about living in America, especially the language.

I started speaking English fluently last February. It took me six or seven months to get it down. You learn English in school in Italy, but you can never speak it fluently, even after you graduate. You only get it down when you come here and are surrounded by the language. Somebody will come up to you, start speaking English and you don’t always know what they’re saying.

In addition to English and Italian, I can also speak Spanish. It’s similar to Italian, and I took classes for three years.

My first semester of taking classes in the U.S. was very difficult. Then, after a while, things get better. I’ve started to get the hang of things. The classes here are very different than they are in Italy, but I think it’s better here.