- Sergio Tacchini
Sergio Tacchini (born
May 30 ,1938 ) is an Italianfashion designer of sportswear inNovara, Italy .Early career
Sergio Tacchini became a professional tennis player at age 17, by entering the
Tennis Club ofMilan in 1955. In 1960 he won the title of the Italian Champion over fellow countryman Nicola Pietrangeli. He was considered to be a talent on clay courts and also competed in theDavis Cup , counting five victories in singles and one in doubles in a total of fifteen games. He took another two Italian titles in doubles, with Pietrangeli as his partner in 1967 and 1968.The firm
In 1966, Sergio Tacchini founded "Sandys S.p.A." which was to be renamed after him a few years later. The initial idea was to experiment with colours and fabrics in order to create elegant and stylish tenniswear, at a time white dominated the players' clothes. However the project expanded to other sports such as
ski , fitness,golf andsailing , but leisure wear as well. The mid-eighties saw Sergio Tacchini issue the "Dallas" tracksuit. Simple in design, it went on to become one of the decades most recognisable items of clothing. Today it is highly sought after, with second hand pieces exchanging hands for up to £100.Sponsoring
Many great athletes have joined the Sergio Tacchini brand over the years. Most of them are well-known tennis players from the 1970s and 1980s such as
Jimmy Connors ,Vitas Gerulaitis ,Ilie Nastase ,Mats Wilander ,John McEnroe ,Martina Navratilova ,Sergi Bruguera ,Pat Cash ,Gabriela Sabatini ,Pete Sampras ,Martina Hingis andGoran Ivanišević famously when he won the Wimbledon title. The firm has also sponsored the 1983 Italianbasketball team in the European Cup, the skiersPirmin Zurbriggen andMarc Girardelli , Formula 1 drivers such asAyrton Senna andCarlos Reutemann and the golferIan Woosnam . At present sponsored athletes include the skipperKarine Fauconnier and English cricketer Ian Bell.Individually Sponsored Tennis Players
*flagicon|Spain
Tommy Robredo
*flagicon|ItalyFilippo Volandri
*flagicon|BelgiumSteve Darcis
*flagicon|BelgiumOlivier Rochus
*Xavier Malisse
*Flavia Pennetta External links
* [http://www.sergiotacchini.com/ Official website]
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