I grew up in a very small town just outside Parma, in the North of Italy. I lived with my parents and grand parents in a big house, a perfect place for a child. I was always playing outside with my friends. It was awesome but I have to admit that I did run into trouble on a regular basis…
Nobody else in my family plays squash. I got to know squash through school and had a chance to start playing. I enjoyed it straight away and soon played every day. And I never looked back!

Parma
I still live in Parma, where all my family and friends are, It’s a small and very nice city. You can find the best food in the world here, my mum is the chef… Some of the squash girls came for a stop over at the Manetta family kitchen and you could tell they enjoyed it! I do my training here in Parma. Twice a week I travel to Milan to train with my coach Marcus Berrett. I also train in Riccione, at the national squash center.

Squash and après squash
I still have a vivid memory about Greg Gaultier being the first player to really impress me when I was 13 and played in my first junior European team tournament in Spain. Greg is so talented! I take bits and pieces from many different players. Every tournament, I learn something new…
I think confidence is important to get you through difficult moments. A few good wins is a good recipe for some confidence by the way! I also try to enjoy my squash and my matches, I try to work hard but also have some fun out there.

Sometimes I think I would love to live somewhere like New York City and be involved in squash over there, I love that city. And later on, maybe I will work with the Italian squash federation. Or go into real estate maybe. But you never know, life is strange and full of surprises, isn’t it!?

Hobbies
I think it’s important to have some hobbies to take my mind of off squash. I enjoy horse riding a lot. Mind you, I don’t have a horse because it would be too much work and I’m away from home a lot obviously. But once or twice a week, I go to this really nice club where I can go riding. It’s a great feeling on a horse, everything is so quiet. All you can hear is the horse and yourself, mmm.
I also love the sea, I go to the beach as much as I can in the summer, I love it. Summer is the best part of the year for me. It’s very social over here, I meet my friends for nice dinners whenever I can. I would like to play more tennis, but I can’t right now of course. After my squash career, my hobby might be tennis.

Outside of squash, I absolutely love doing nothing. Just relax at home, sleep or go on a nice holiday. I always love to go to New York or to some nice and quiet beach. Two opposites I guess, but I like both! California is great too, I like going there, especially with my squash friends. Nice beaches! Polynesia and Japan are on my list of places to visit.

Big concerts I don’t like much as I am really not a fan of big crowds. I’d rather listen to music on my radio, anything but rock I’d say.
I watch movies as well and really like Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro, Colin Farrell and Julia Roberts.

Passion
I live life to the max, I don’t want to miss out on anything! Giving it all to the people who mean the most to me. I follow my feelings, my heart comes before my head most of the times. Sometimes that works out well, other times it doesn’t. But what can I do? I’m an emotional person, I live only once so I’m very passionate about it. I have a tattoo that says: “live, love & laugh”. That says it all really…

Overall, I’m a relaxed person, easy going, but I’m particular about things that matter to me. I’m adventurous, a bit superstitious and I can be a push over too! Sometimes I can be a bit demanding for others. In fact, some of my friends call me “princess” which makes me smile. I guess I like to have a nice lifestyle

Italian food rules
I’m not a good chef, I actually can’t cook!! I am a little spoiled there as my mum is always cooking and I have no interest in learning. Italian food is my favourite food. Then sushi and Thai food but they don’t have nice bread and nice wine to go with it I learnt to have different dishes while travelling and I like trying anything that looks interesting and tasty. But bottom line, I don’t think there’s a better food culture than the Italian one…

Going for a better world!
I have one more thought to share with the world, I hope that Barack Obama will contribute to making this world a better place because I think we can do better, yes, we can! It’s a bit sad to see how a country like Italy, which is full of resources and possibilities, seems to not live up to its potential. I see people around me who are unhappy every day at the moment, and I find this upsetting. But I’m confident we will get out of this “bubble” so we can live better lives again!

Manuela