US Open result caps extraordinary year for Italian tennis

ROME — Sure, he's got the biggest and most prestigious trophies, but Jannik Sinner, the freshly-crowned US Open champion, hasn't been the only Italian taking home hardware during an extraordinary year for the country's tennis movement.

Jasmine Paolini was the runner-up at successive Grand Slams, reaching the singles final at both the French Open and Wimbledon — plus the doubles final in Paris with Sara Errani.

Paolini then teamed up with Errani to win gold in the women's doubles at the Paris Olympics.

Lorenzo Musetti also took home the bronze in the men's singles.

Italy had waited 100 years for an Olympic tennis medal, and two came along at once.

Then, Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the mixed doubles trophy at the US Open, just days before Sinner's latest triumph in New York — which cemented his status as world No 1.

Simone Bolelli and Vavassori were also the runners-up in the men's doubles at the year's opening two Grand Slams.

Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian tennis and padel federation, said: "We need to prepare ourselves, because we're entering a new era. Do you remember (Bjorn) Borg's Sweden or (Rafael) Nadal's Spain? The numbers tell us that this will be Italy's era. We're making more and more progress, with the women, too."

Sinner's burden

Sinner's Australian Open title in January made him the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam title in nearly half a century — since Adriano Panatta raised the French Open trophy in 1976. And now he has two in one year.

Shortly before the US Open started, Sinner was exonerated in a doping case that he had been dealing with for months, but which hadn't been made public until shortly before play began at Flushing Meadows.

"He won two of the four Slams and played the other two with a huge burden hanging over his shoulders," Binaghi said.

Next goal

Italy has seven men ranked in the top 50, is the defending Davis Cup champion and has three top doubles teams in Errani-Paolini, Bolelli-Vavassori and Errani-Vavassori, who will aim for more hardware in the mixed events.

"Get your tickets and enjoy this era of success," Binaghi said. "The next goal will be to win a big tournament in Italy."

The last homegrown player to win the men's Italian Open singles title was Panatta in 1976, while Raffaella Reggi, in 1985, was the last Italian woman to win her home tournament.

Super TV coverage

Binaghi, who has led the Italian federation since 2001 — back when the Italian Open often attracted more fans to its after-hours disco parties than to watch the action on the courts — attributes much of his country's boom to the development of the SuperTennis TV channel.

The federation's outlet, which operates 24 hours per day, broadcasting worldwide tournaments throughout the year to Italian households, is the country's most-watched non-soccer sports channel.

Sunday's final, in which Sinner beat Taylor Fritz, was watched by an average of 1.8 million people on SuperTennis — which has a 10.12 percent share of national viewership — meaning that about one in every 10 people watching TV in Italy was watching the US Open.

"We gave Italians free tennis coverage," Binaghi said on the channel after Sinner's victory.

The success of Italian players is also due to the abundance of lower-level Challenger events in the country. On Monday, Francesco Passaro won one such tournament in Genoa to give the nation 10 singles titles on that circuit this year.

Bigger arenas

Italy will also host the ATP Finals in November for the fourth consecutive year, with Sinner having finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2023.

While the current contract for the Turin-based tournament expires after the 2025 edition, the Italian federation is working to extend the deal.

The year-ending event for the top eight men's singles players and doubles teams could then be moved to a bigger arena being built in Milan for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

"We're not just at full capacity at the Foro Italico for the Italian Open or the Inalpi Arena (for the ATP Finals)," Binaghi said. "Our tennis and padel clubs are overcrowded and have long waiting lists.

"We need to make big investments in infrastructure," Binaghi added, before teasing a future announcement. "I'll tell you right now that, within the next two years, we will do something crazy."

Agencies Via Xinhua