The key to the golden age of Italian Tennis embodied by Jannik Sinner? “Our free-to-air television channel”, surprisingly assures the president of the Italian Federation Angelo Binaghi for whom “the French Federation is not doing enough in this area”.
QUESTION: Organizing the Masters in Turin with an Italian world No. 1 headlining for the first time in the history of the ATP rankings, is that unexpected?
ANSWER: “Having the world No. 1 in a sport as universal and as highly competitive as tennis is a miracle for all countries. You have to be lucky enough to come across a phenomenon like Sinner. This is happening to us in a period when we won the Davis Cup (in 2023, Editor’s note)where we are finalists (in 2023, Editor’s note) from FedCup (now called Billie Jean King Cup, Editor’s note)we have five players in the world top 40 and Jasmine Paolini who is world No. 4. We will say that it is a miracle which does not come from nowhere like in Switzerland or Serbia, which has solid roots.
Q: When you were elected president of the Italian Federation in 2001, Italian tennis was in crisis, with only one player in the world top 100, how did you revive it? By restructuring training?
A: “We have set up, it’s true, a decentralized system, by regionalizing the training centers, with a very large capillarity, but I don’t believe that that is the reason. It is even perhaps – being the least important reason The most important is our SuperTennis TV channel. (created in 2008, Editor’s note). Twenty years ago, tennis disappeared from the screens. If a sport is no longer seen on television, it is no longer played by children, it is destined to die. Now 900,000 viewers a day in Italy see tennis all year round for free.”
Q: How does this have a positive effect on high-level tennis?
A: “If tennis is more popular, there are more clubs, more tennis schools, more players, more sponsors, more tickets sold at expensive prices for major events. You have seen the price tickets for these Masters? We can't find anything for less than 500 euros and we are full.”
Q: Would that be your advice to French tennis, which has been waiting for a Grand Slam winner on the men's circuit since 1983 and the coronation of Yannick Noah at Roland-Garros?
A: “Completely, the French are not doing enough in this area (…) In our Western European countries, tennis could become a more popular sport than football, but the French cannot develop if they ensure that Roland-Garros is broadcast on a pay channel in Italy, for example, if only rich people can watch this tournament on TV (…) it is a huge strategic error If I were. president of the French Federation, I would not allow my tournaments to be on pay channels. We must do everything to ensure that our tournaments, Rome and the Masters for Italy, Roland-Garros and Bercy. (the Masters 1000 in Paris, Editor’s note) for France are broadcast unencrypted throughout Europe.”
Q: The Masters are guaranteed to stay in Turin until 2025, and after?
A: “It depends on the ATP, we will know more on Sunday. We are doing everything possible so that there is an extension of the contract. If this is the case, we will then see where, in Turin in the current site or in Milan, in a hall built for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be larger.”
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