TRENT. This time Carlos Alcaraz wonwho will play the Roland Garros final on Sunday against Alex Zverev, while Jannik Sinner (knowing him) he will already be thinking about his next commitment. The grass season is upon us and the finish line is calling Wimbledonpassing through the tournament of Hallescheduled from June 17th to 23rd.
One thing is certain: the one staged on Friday afternoon at the “Philippe Chatrier” it was a sublime show between two champions who, it’s easy to predict, will hit each other “balls” (with great respect, given that there is a true friendship between Jannik and Carlos, which has lasted for some time now) for (at least) the next decade.
An exciting match where, in the end, the Sinner fans applauded Alcaraz (that never goes over the top) and those of the Spaniard complimented the blue.
The Iberian woncapable of resurrecting after a first set in which he was annihilated by the 22 year old from Sesto and, thanks to a better physical condition than the South Tyrolean, he managed to impose himself at a distance after over 4 hours of pure show. In short, a joy for the eyes of those who were able to attend the meeting.
Exactly, who could, because not everyone, beyond the afternoon time, was able to attend a show of the highest level. Which, at the moment, has few equals, not only when it comes to sport in Italy, but in general. No need to go around it too much: Sinner against Alcaraz represents the top of talent, technique, power and class.
So, an event of this type, which should literally be within everyone’s reach, was broadcast only in “pay per view” mode. and it was exclusively ad subscribers who enjoyed it Eurosport or to the platforms of Sky, Now, Dazn, TimVision and Discovery+ (which broadcast the sports channels of the Warner Bros Discovery broadcaster).
Yet another sensational “bug” on the part of the public service, exacerbated by the fact that in Spain, however, Sinner – Alcaraz was broadcast free-to-air on DMAX with commentary by Fernando Ruiz and Alex Corretj.
And why didn’t it happen in Italy? Simple, because the semi-finals and final of a Grand Slam tournament, even in the presence of an Italian athlete (the same goes for the last act of the women’s tournament, which featured Jasmine Paolini or for the finals of the doubles tournaments, with two Italian couples playing for the title), they do not fall – incredibly – in the list of “events of national importance” drawn up by the communications guarantor, which ensures the broadcast “for all” of certain sporting and non-sporting events. Like, for example, the Sanremo Festival.
The Agicom list is updated in 2012 and, in the last 12 years, it has not undergone any changes. Among the guaranteed events (“to at least 80% of the Italian population, on a free schedule without additional costs” the provision states) there are the Summer and Winter Olympics, matches of the Italian national football team, the finals of the Champions League and Europa League (but not the Conference League) in the event of the presence of an Italian team, the Giro d’Italia, the Italian Grand Prix of Formula 1 (Monza), the one in Misano for the Moto GP, the semi-finals and finals of the Italians in international volleyball, basketball, water polo and rugby tournaments (including the Six Nations) and the street cycling world championships.
And what about tennis? The Authority foresees that among the “events of national importance” there are the semi-finals and the final of the Italian Internationals if there are Italian athletes participating, the semi-finals and the final of the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup in which the Italian national team participates. Stop.
And the Grand Slam tournaments? And the Masters 1,000, which has now become a land of conquest for Jannik Sinner? And Jasmine Paolini’s matches (top 10 in the WTA circuit)? And the finals of the blue doubles? Nothing, there is no trace, despite the fact that the Italian tennis movement is clearly and sensationally on the rise. And not since yesterday, but for a year now
Today there is no nation more “tennis” than Italy, but the public service (which has a lot of problems) seems to totally ignore the “boom” of a discipline that, like never before, is bringing enormous joy and, above all, is bringing thousands of people closer to this sport.
Already on the occasion of Sinner’s triumph at the Australian Open, the first to protest against Rai’s behavior were the journalists of… Raisport (ARTICLE HERE) which, with a very harsh statement, they had spoken about “yet another missed opportunity: a page in the history of sport was written and we weren’t there”. Given that, it is worth remembering, in addition to not buying the rights to the final against Medvedev, the Public Service had chosen not to even send a journalist to Melbourne to witness the feat of the Italian champion.
Finally the figures, which in these cases never lie: for the match between Sinner and Alcaraz, 1,003,000 people connected on Eurosportwith a share of almost 12%. The small audience recorded 1,213,948 spectators (14.07% share).
At this point the question is (and it’s incredible why they haven’t already been asked in Viale Mazzini): what numbers would the match between Sinner and Alcaraz have had on Rai channels, free to air? The answer is easy and can be summed up in two words: mind-boggling.
Instead the show was – unfortunately – for a few. Given that Jannik is destined to remain at these levels for years and years (and not just him, the movement is on a dizzying rise), How long will it take before his exploits – at least in the most important tournaments – become everyone’s “heritage”?
It’s worth saying: this time too Rai lost sensationally. And, just to stay on topic, the final score is merciless: 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.
