Davis Cup | “An incredible year”: How Italy put tennis under its belt

Tennis advantage. On the five front pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport running from Monday to Friday, the daily with its pink pages devoted three to the yellow ball. Yes, three. And this is not trivial, although the international truce which slowed down the football world helped a lot. On Monday, it was Jannik Sinner, the new king of Italian sport, who took up the full pages of almost all the daily newspapers, both sports and general, after his historic victory at the Turin Masters. Jumble: “Only you”, “The Best”, “The legend”, “the master”. In short, classic since the start of 2024. Thursday, the girls’ turn to be celebrated after their victory in the BJK Cup. Before this 5th coronation, Italy had already triumphed in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013 in the competition which was then called the Fed Cup. It was the time of the greatness of Francesca Schiavone, winner of Roland-Garros in 2010, and Flavia Pennetta, winner of the US Open five years later.

Finally, on Friday, the Journal placed two men on the front page: Jannik Sinner, obviously, and Matteo Berrettini. THE two have sent their selection for the semi-finals of the Davis Cup, where the transalpine title holders will face Australia on Saturday. Hoping to aim for the grand final on Sunday.

If the Serie A championship resumes on Saturday, and the tennis season is about to end, this 2024 vintage will remain historic for the Italian Tennis Federation. “To have the world No. 1 in a sport as universal and as highly competitive as tennis is a miracle for all countries.recently welcomed Angelo Binaghi, the president of the body, to AFP. You have to be lucky enough to come across a phenomenon like Sinner. This happens to us in a period where we won the Davis Cup (in 2023, editor’s note), where we have five players in the world top 40 and Jasmine Paolini who is world number 4. We will say that it is a miracle which does not come from nowhere like in Switzerland or Serbia, which has solid roots.” Since then, he has started to dream of an incredible Davis Cup -BJK Cup double. But then, how can we explain such an explosion in such a short time?

“We have set up, it is true, a decentralized system, by regionalizing the training centers, with a very large capillarity but I do not believe that that is the reasondeveloped Binaghi. This is perhaps even the least important reason. The most important is our SuperTennis television 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 per day in Italy see tennis all year round for free. 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..” And this is reflected in the figures.

To date, the tennis and padel industry is worth 8.1 billion euros per year, with 18.1 million followers, 6.5 million practitioners and 57,541 jobs. For football, we are talking about 21.9 million fans and 7.9 million practitioners. The gap is narrowing. Although the Soccer represents 19.1 billion euros alone. An almost unimaginable amount for tennis. For the Masters in Turin, the organizers have mentioned 210,275 spectators over the entire duration of the tournament, between matches, training and fan zones. According to Boston Consulting Group, the economic impact is 503.4 million euros (an amount multiplied by five since 2021) and 3,421 jobs. As for the Italian State, this represents 84.5 million euros in tax revenue, five times more than the investment, estimated at 15. Suffice to say that the boss of the ATP Andrea Gaudenzi hastened to announce the good news after the final of the 2024 edition.

“I am happy to announce that the ATP Masters will remain in Italy for five more years, until 2030“, he declared just before presenting the winner’s trophy to his compatriot Jannik Sinner. But the tournament could still change setting from 2026 and join Milan, the economic capital of Italy where a new hall is being built , larger than the Inalpi Arena, for the 2026 Winter Olympics To beat the Saudi competition, Italy has worked hard: 25 million dollars per year promised to the ATP against the. 17.5 current, as well as a prize money higher than 15.5 million this year Symbol of the dimension taken by tennis on the other side of the Alps It was enough to go for a walk in the center of Turin during. the Masters to understand it.

Giant tennis balls, panels, signs… Even someone who didn’t particularly like the yellow ball ended up knowing about the event. As for TV audiences, they continue to increase. For the Masters final, broadcast by Rai (public television) and Sky Sport, there were just under 5 million euros in front of their screen. Figures that were unimaginable just a few years ago.