Tennis versus football. Jannik Sinner doesn’t see it that way: “It’s good that in Italy there is this great passion for the two sports. I didn’t ask to play in the evening, I didn’t ask for anything. I will be cheering for the national team, let’s hope it will be a day of celebration for football and tennis.” No, Jannik doesn’t like to lead a crusade: to undermine the football record in a country raised on bread and ball. But tomorrow evening, inevitably, there will be a challenge within the challenge: Sinner-Medvedev, the last match of the Nastase group of the ATP Finals, at the same time as Belgium-Italy of the Nations League (starts at 8.30pm and 8.45pm respectively). Both events will be broadcast free-to-air on Rai (Sinner also on Sky).
reasons
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But why did we arrive at this unprecedented overlap? The organizers’ initial idea was to have Sinner play in the afternoon. Even Rai, which holds secondary rights (one match per day) compared to Sky (exclusivity on the entire event), had made this request, while Sky had taken a neutral attitude. Then, however, the evolution of the Nastase group made another type of assessment prevail. Based on the various combinations of results, placing Sinner-Medvedev before Fritz-De Minaur would have emptied this last match of meaning. In this way, however, the uncertainty about the outcome of the group will remain open until the end. It was, therefore, a choice of a sporting nature and to defend the value of the product. And the side effect of being at the same time with the national team is not scary. On the other hand, Fitp president Angelo Binaghi dreams of transforming tennis into a popular sport in Italy, capable of capturing the masses just like football. Perhaps, tomorrow’s overlap will also be useful as a test to measure the progress of the movement led by Sinner.
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numbers
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The Azzurri’s matches in this edition of the Nations League had growing ratings: 5.6 million viewers against France, 6.6 against Israel, 7.1 against Belgium and 7.3 in the return match against Israel. A year ago, around this time, Sinner managed to do the same. The 2023 final in Turin against Djokovic was followed by 6.7 million people on TV, between Rai and Sky: it is still the most watched tennis match in history, in Italy. In this fairytale 2024, the main audiences were registered with the Slam finals: that of the US Open, broadcast by Sky and SuperTennis (pay+free), had 3.3 million viewers; that of the Australian Open, broadcast by Eurosport (pay), 1.9 million. Last Sunday the first match of the Finals, against De Minaur, achieved an audience of 2.3 million combining the figures from Sky and Rai. Napoli-Inter in Serie A, simultaneously on Dazn, stopped at 1.7. Sinner has already beaten football, then. But he was favored by the clear window. In light of all this, it will be interesting to observe the ratings curves tomorrow evening, given that both contents will be available for free.
