Binaghi sends a message to the FFT: "Make tennis a more popular sport than soccer".
Angelo Binaghi is an ambitious man. President of the Italian Tennis Federation since 2001, he has contributed to the revival of transalpine tennis, which boasts many talents in the top 100 of the ATP rankings (12 Italian players feature there), starting of course with Jannik Sinner, the world number 1.
On the women's side, Jasmine Paolini was one of the great revelations of the 2024 season, with her first Masters 1000 title in Dubai and her first two Grand Slam finals. These performances enabled her to climb to 4th place in the WTA rankings.
In an interview with Eurosport, Binaghi spoke of his ambitions for tennis and was keen to send a message to the French Tennis Federation.
"In the latest edition of La Gazzetta Dello Sport, the first 17 pages were devoted to tennis. Let's just say there's a rebalancing in the face of an omnipotent sport with a lot of power like soccer.
Not just in Italy, but in Europe too. In this sense, the role of the French Tennis Federation is fundamental, as it is the leader in Europe.
They have to understand that they have a responsibility to give the continent the tools to make tennis more popular than soccer, with more free-to-air broadcasts.
Otherwise, tennis risks becoming the sport of the rich. France has a big responsibility, but so do other countries, including us.
It's a fundamental strategic error to think otherwise. It's a common battle that we must fight together: to make tennis a more popular sport than soccer.
As a leader, the French Tennis Federation has a major responsibility in this respect. In Italy, we have created a television channel, SuperTennis, which broadcasts tennis free-to-air to the majority of the Italian population.
I wanted tennis to become more popular. Today, we have over a million members throughout the country. We're the country's second most popular sport after soccer," says Binaghi.
