Nino Merola
| Full name | Lucantonino Merola |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) | United Kingdom |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
| Born | 29 October 1991 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Club | Radley College Real Tennis Club |
| Singles | |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | 11 |
| Current ranking | 11 |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (2026) |
| British Open | QF (2024) |
| US Open | 2R (2018) |
| Doubles | |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | 13 |
| Current ranking | 13 |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (2026) |
| British Open | SF (2024) |
| US Open | SF (2025) |
Lucantonio "Nino" Merola (born 29 October 1991) is a British professional real tennis player, currently working as the senior professional at Radley College.[1] He is currently ranked eleventh in the world at singles and seventeenth in the world at doubles. His most notable results was reaching the singles semi-finals of the 2026 Australian Open, as well as the quarter finals of the 2024 Champions Trophy.
Career
Merola discovered real tennis while working at Radley College. He worked spells at the International Tennis Club of Washington and the Seacourt Tennis Club before returning to Radley as the senior professional under Chris Ronaldson.[2] Although he entered several major tournaments including the British Open and the US Open, he didn't proceed past the first round between 2016 and 2022.
Merola's breakout came at the 2023 British Open. Winning through qualifying, he beat Louis Gordon in the first round in five sets before taking a set off incumbent World Champion Camden Riviere, the lowest ranked player to do so in over 16 years.[3] In the doubles draw of the same tournament, he and Henry Henman also took a set from Riviere and Tim Chisholm, the incumbent World Doubles Champions.
In 2024, he won the Category A Open in Manchester and was awarded the Most Valuable Player at the IRTPA Super League.[4] He progressed through qualifying at the Champions Trophy and reached the second quarter finals, defeating Bryn Sayers in the first quarter final.[5] At that year's British Open, he reached his first Open singles quarter final, defeating French amateur champion Matthieu Sarlangue in the round of 16. In the doubles, he partnered with Ben Taylor-Matthews and reached the semi final stage, taking another set off of Riviere and Chisholm in the process.[6]
In 2025, Merola reached his first doubles semi final at the US Open, again partnered with Taylor-Matthews. They defeated Lewis Williams and Darren Long in the quarter final. Although he had a disappointing British Open, losing in the first round of both the singles and doubles, followed up at the 2026 Australian Open with the best result of his career, defeating third seed Nick Howell in the quarter-finals to reach his first career singles semi-final.[7] He reached the doubles semi-finals of the same tournament, losing to eventual winners Howell and Steve Virgona.
Performance timeline
Singles
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Current through the 2026 Australian Open[8]
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | 1R | 1R | A | SF | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | 40% |
| British Open | A | A | Q1 | 1R | NH | 1R | Q1 | 2R | QF | 1R | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | 38% | |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | 2R | 0 / 4 | 0–4 | 0% | |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0 / 12 | 5–12 | 29% |
| IRTPA Sanctioned Tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Champions Trophy | NH | A | A | A | NH | A | A | QF | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | ||
| IRTPA Championship | NH | A | Q1 | 1R | NH | A | NH | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||
| US Pro | Q1 | 1R | 1R | Q1 | NH | A | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 3 | 0–3 | 0% | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 5 | 1–5 | 17% |
| Career Statistics | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Career | |||
| Tournaments | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Career total: 17 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Career total: 0 | ||
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Career total: 0 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 6–17 | 26% | |
| Win % | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | 0% | – | 33% | 50% | 0% | 67% | Career total: 26% | ||
Doubles
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | Q1 | A | A | A | NH | A | QF | QF | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| British Open | A | A | Q1 | QF | NH | Q1 | 1R | QF | SF | 1R | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | 38% |
| US Open | 1R | Q1 | 1R | A | A | A | A | QF | A | SF | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0 / 11 | 5–11 | 31% |
| IRTPA Sanctioned Tournaments | |||||||||||||
| IRTPA Championship | A | 1R | QF | NH | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% | ||||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Career Statistics | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Career | |||
| Tournaments | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Career total: 13 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Career total: 0 | ||
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Career total: 0 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 7–13 | 35% | |
| Win % | 0% | 0% | 50% | 50% | – | – | 0% | 40% | 33% | 33% | Career total: 35% | ||
References
- ^ "Player Profile: Nino Merola". Royal Tennis Court. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "US Open Program 2023" (PDF). United States Court Tennis Association. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "British Open Singles and Doubles Championships 2023". Tennis and Rackets Association. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "FLM Super League - Final Day". International Real Tennis Professionals Association. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "The Real Tennis Champions Trophy 2024". Royal Tennis Court. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "British Open Singles and Doubles Championships 2024". Tennis and Rackets Association. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Geytenbeek, Ben. "Merola takes down Howell in biggest upset of Australian Open". Real Tennis News. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ "Player Profile – Nino Merola". International Real Tennis Professionals Association.