Jannik the earthman: Rome is his too. From the “most complete” Australian kangaroo Alcaraz (according to many former players and experts) to Sinner who is chasing Rafa Nadal’s record hauls on the red surface. How things in world tennis change at the speed of a first serve. Sinner, at not even 25 years old, has already collected all nine Masters 1000s obtained by Nole Djokovic (who congratulates him for joining the very small exclusive club). Like the Serbian, he proves to be a universal and tenacious player like no other. Only one gem is missing in his career now, and it is hoped that it will be filled in the next few weeks in Paris. The South Tyrolean already has an extraordinary career behind him and the best is yet to come.

Memorable season on earth

With Adriano Panatta giving him the trophy fifty years after his historic victory, a circle is closed. The red fox overcame the accumulated tiredness, but also the retching and tremors experienced in the match against Daniil Medvedev. Sinner has these crises: you have to live with them, anticipate them, manage them, recover from them. This time he succeeded, leaving only one set and some worries on the table. The clay season is already epic, when Roland Garros is still missing. Of course, the absence of rival Carlos Alcaraz made the path much easier. But for seventy days Jannik has been winning on hard courts and on clay, dominating his opponents, with or without the Spaniard.

Binaghi the omnipresent

The icing on the cake of the two weeks in Rome came from the triumph of the doubles players Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli. However, it was Angelo Binaghi who stole the spotlight from the athletes in the days preceding the finals. The super plenipotentiary president of Fit, the Italian tennis federation, tried in every way to stand out, even more than usual. Now his pomp has surpassed that of Luciano Spalletti in his best days (when he won and entertained with his football).

Shoot on the Red Cross

It’s been difficult to keep up with Binaghi these days, capable of shooting (bordered) balls here and there continuously. He insulted the leaders of Italian football (like shooting at the Red Cross) for the shameful ballet of timetables on the final match of the championship. It’s easy to blame those who have lost appeal and failed to qualify for the world championship for the third time, when you are the holder of the last three Davis Cups. It’s a long way from here to thinking that tennis could become the national sport par excellence. Until he fills the squares to celebrate a championship or a promotion to Serie A, it cannot be thought that he has displaced football from first place in Italy out of interest. The balance in our home sport has certainly changed, but the whole affair was grotesque.

But what Roma fifth slam…

Binaghi has relaunched, for the umpteenth time, the crazy idea of ​​Rome’s fifth slam. But what a fifth slam! No one has ever talked about the possibility of increasing the number of Slams and, if there were ever an opening, it is nowhere written that Rome – a tournament full of organizational defects – would be the chosen tournament. It is much more useful to lock down the ATP Finals (as has been done, but moving them from Turin to Milan) and deal with the future management of the budding tournament “bought” by the ATP 250 of Brussels: this too will go to Milan and will be played shortly before Wimbledon, hoping to be able to replicate the successes of Turin compared to the Roman grumbles.

Rome’s planning, however, seemed, as always, approximate. Shifts and adjustments also occur in other outdoor tournaments. But in Rome there is never a happy tennis player. This time the organization of the matches was paradoxical: no one knew the times of the matches that would be played. This roof to be used in case of rain is certainly useful for making the leap in quality.

Will we have a roof?

The public is wondering about the costs of the Roman experience, quite expensive like the Turin one of the ATP Finals. The inflationary spiral on Italian tennis events has grown exponentially: the fault of “Sinnerite”, so much demand and supply, therefore, remodulated. Not happy, recently manager Binaghi, having a decent nest egg in his belly, invested it in a historic newspaper, “La Stampa” of Turin. Through a company of the federation, 6.7% of the prestigious newspaper was acquired. An anomaly, considered useful to further promote Italian tennis activity.

He himself said he was a temporary president, but he has been there for 26 years. Binaghi was certainly a great protagonist in the relaunch of Italian tennis and has great merits, which he continually highlights. Having removed Giovanni Malagò from Coni, with the leaders of football in crisis, he stands as a reference figure for Italian sport. But all Masters 1000s must have at least one roof. Will we really have him in the capital in two? The Romans, accustomed to tangled urban planning situations, are for “wait and hope”. Tennis fans, however, seriously believe it.