First swimming, then tennis. Now, an important position in one of the best known Italian agro-food companies, the Monini of olive oil. Starting from Poland, passing through the States and with a Japanese temptation in the middle. It is a life lived between sport and business that of Alina Wygonowska, class of '77, born in Gdynia, a few kilometers from the more famous (and pronounceable) Gdansk.
“Tennis has given me so much, but I have no regrets. And my dream was to live in Italy”. Now Alina, former number 604 of the WTA circuit, lives in Spoleto, in Umbria, and works for the well-known oil brand Monini, for which he is country manager of his native Poland. She has two children (the eldest, aged four and a half, plays tennis) and a husband, obviously Italian. “But I haven't learned your language here. I took two degrees in the United States, at Oregon University: one in Business Administration and the other in Italian, after thinking about learning…Japanese!”.
Both titles have yielded her in the best way, it must be said, but let's go in order. It all began in Poland at the end of the 80s: Alina is 12 years old and after trying swimming, she throws herself into tennis. "I started later than the average, especially for my generation: mine were the years of Martina Hingis (who made her debut on the professional circuit in '94, at the age of 14), precocious tennis players". Despite this, Alyna is talented and at 17, after a six-week tour of South America, obtains the points necessary to be classified in the WTA. "I did six consecutive tournaments in 6 different countries - says the manager, who at her time preferred fast surfaces -: I didn't win a single one but I scored the necessary points to enter the rankings".
Among the juniors, Alina had been among the three best Polish tennis players, winning several under-18 tournaments. “That generation didn't do great results at the pro level. Radwanska, which reminds me a lot of Hingis in terms of style, came later, while the best of my session was definitely Magdalena Grzybowska, who as a junior won the Australian Open in 1996 and two years later was number 30 in the world among professionals”. The best ranking of Alina, who never managed to win against Grzybowska, was instead 604, with her best result achieved at the 1996 Polish championships, when she finished third.
But in the Wygonowska household they were already thinking about the future. “I studied in an English-speaking high school and at the age of 19, after high school, I won a scholarship and left for the States, opting for the University of Oregon, which is based in Eugene." Where he studied economics and began to cultivate a passion for Italy, without however leaving tennis. Quite the opposite: the brilliant student from Eastern Europe throws herself into the college circuit, which in America is organized so as to be compatible with studying ("We play on weekends and in the summer") and to be able to play any tournament, even pro, but renouncing the fees. In those years, the future manager also came across some good level players, such as the Luxembourgian Anne Kremer, who boasts a third round at Roland Garros and twice at Wimbledon and the number 18 as best ranking.
Then the degree and the inevitable crossroads. "I am left for Perugia, to enroll in the university for foreigners. I could have continued playing but I also injured my Achilles tendon badly during that time. At the end of my studies I was 24-25 years old and by the parameters of that generation I was already an 'old lady': now the 30-year-old is back in fashion, but my times were those of the baby phenomena”. So we leave for Italy, which means work but also holidays: "In Perugia I took the first holidays of my life, after years dedicated to tennis and studying". Her first professional experience was in 2001, in a company (later bankrupt after the September 11 attacks) that supplied oil dressings for airlines.
But with that curriculum vitae, in October 2001 Alina remained in the oil sector and joined Monini, a historic Made in Italy company based in Spoleto, which now it has a turnover of 125 million euros and distributes oil in 58 countries around the world. Among the top three to which Monini (which allocates 30% of its production outside Italy) exports, together with Switzerland and Russia, is Poland. “Among those of extra-virgin quality, Monini is the best-selling oil in my country – reveals Wygonowska -. Not only that: Poland is one of the only two countries where we have a branch office. In fact, Monini Polska has been operational since 2009 and today has 12 employees (in Italy there are around 110 employees of the group, ed)”. The one based in Poznan is the most important base abroad, while Monini North America, based in the USA, has only two employees.
However, Alina has little nostalgia for the USA, her dream was Italy and she made it come true. And also about tennis, which she still follows ("My idols are now Djokovic and Sharapova"), no regrets. “She gave me so much. Thanks to tennis I had a wonderful experience abroad, where I was able to study, train and still play at a good level. I carry with me a baggage of incredible values, not only in work but also in life. Tennis means discipline, organization of time, responsibility, open-mindedness and even a sense of belonging: although it is an individual sport, the experience on the college circuit, where you play in teams, has taught me to live and work in a group. And this helps me a lot, now that I work in a team of 12 people”. And accompanying his four-and-a-half-year-old son to play tennis.
