"He overshadowed others" phrase about Jannik Sinner wreaks havoc on social media

At the columns of Gazzetta dello Sport, Paolo Bertolucci analyzed the situation at Roland Garros after Jannik Sinner’s painful elimination due to physical problems suffered in the match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo: “There is still a lot of Italy at Roland Garros. And perhaps this is the best news after the disappointment of Jannik Sinner’s exit and Lorenzo Musetti’s absence. Paris continues to speak Italian, and it does so through the three players who reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros yesterday: Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Berrettini, and Matteo Arnaldi.”

The racquet legend went on to say, “Sinner opened a path, showed the younger players that certain goals were no longer a dream but a concrete objective. With his extraordinary victories he changed the perception of Italian tennis. But, inevitably, his dazzling light also ended up partially overshadowing those around him.” The last sentence quickly made the rounds of the Web, and many supporters of the South Tyrolean outfielder did not like Bertolucci’s exit.

“In even the recent past, results obtained by players like Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli would have been welcomed as something exceptional. Today, however, it seems that a Top 10 or winning a tournament that is not at least a Masters 1000 is almost normal. As if getting into the second week of a Slam is routine. But routine it is not. On the contrary, it is something very rare and precious. Sinner’s painful elimination, however, had a special effect. It is as if it closed the big umbrella under which everyone had grown accustomed to being. Now the spotlight has come on Cobolli, Berrettini and Arnaldi, and the Italian public is ready to push them and cheer them as it did yesterday in the five-set battles of the two Matteo’s, both rediscovered,” Bertolucci then analyzed.

“The truth is that this Roland Garros is telling a different Italy. An Italy that does not live only by Sinner, although he remains the absolute reference of the movement. An Italy that is deep, rich, competitive. A group of players who, when the number one is not there or goes out of the picture, do not hide but take responsibility for moving forward. And in a tournament that has suddenly become more democratic, everyone feels they have a chance. And Italy is there.”