Angelo Binaghi takes a swipe at soccer: “What time is Italy playing? Wimbledon distracted me.”

In the week that ended with Jannik Sinner’s latest triumph at Wimbledon and begins with the first semifinal of the 2026 World Cup—the match in Dallas between France and Spain—a new broadside has been fired at Italian soccer. And the author is a very prominent figure: the president of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation himself, Angelo Binaghi. He not only highlighted tennis’s current overwhelming dominance over the country’s traditionally most popular sport—in terms of both popularity and, above all, results. In his ruthless analysis, he also took a swipe at the new president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Giovanni Malagò.

“What time is Italy playing tonight? I wasn’t able to follow the game. You know, I was distracted by Wimbledon,” was the dig with which Binaghi broached the subject during an interview on TG3. And it was precisely the London Grand Slam that proved to be a source of great pride for the number one figure in Italian tennis. “I consider our mission a complete success,” stated the FITP president. “This is true not only because of Sinner’s sensational success, but also because of the excellent results achieved by Cobolli and Paolini.”

The comparison with soccer was ruthless, as the sport awaits a revolution in which Binaghi did not seem to have much confidence. “Malagò doesn’t need my advice. Especially because, from A to Z, he does the opposite of what I do. I think the fact that soccer is doing slightly better than it is now is good for everyone, and there’s a long road ahead. He, however, has always been very lucky. To revitalize a federation, you have to tear everything down, let everyone go, and start from scratch. You have to overturn the pillars of a system that was no longer producing anything. I have a feeling Malagò will do the opposite. Best of luck,” were the harsh words from the head of the Italian Tennis Federation.

After all, the numbers prove Binaghi right across the board. Sinner’s triumph at Wimbledon—his second consecutive victory on the London grass, following his 2025 win—is just the latest chapter in an extraordinary season. Even before the final, the South Tyrolean had already mathematically secured his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, becoming the first player in history to qualify so early for the year-end Masters, surpassing the previous record set by Rafael Nadal on June 13, 2017. This dominance is also reflected in his head-to-head record: Sinner has won 21 of his last 22 matches against Top 10 opponents, losing only to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals.

His dominance is so overwhelming that even in Spain—a country that, with Carlos Alcaraz, boasts the Italian’s only credible rival—the sports newspaper As dedicated an article with the telling title: “Jannik Sinner, the Top 10’s Nightmare.” The champion from Murcia, struggling with inflammation in the tendons of his right wrist sustained in Barcelona in April, has slipped to third place in the ATP rankings and is unlikely to return before the end of August, effectively leaving the field open to his Italian rival in the second half of the season.

However, the strength of Italian tennis does not end with Sinner. Flavio Cobolli currently holds fourth place in the Race to Turin with 3,020 points, confirming a depth of talent unmatched in the history of Italian tennis. Jasmine Paolini, despite being eliminated in the Wimbledon quarterfinals by Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk with a score of 6-3, 6-2, still contributed to the overall positive results mentioned by Binaghi himself. This is a picture that the FITP president had already foreshadowed in recent months when—speaking about the sport’s statistics—he emphasized that the number of tennis and padel players in Italy had reached 6,237,000, coming significantly closer to soccer’s 6,533,000: a gap that, just five years ago, stood at 39% in soccer’s favor.

On the soccer front, meanwhile, the FIGC is working to identify the new head coach for the national team. According to the latest rumors, Paolo Maldini and Leonardo are reportedly considering Andrea Pirlo as the leading alternative to Pep Guardiola, a possibility deemed particularly complicated. The former midfielder and 2006 World Cup champion, who now coaches a team in Dubai, would be a welcome choice for the new federation leadership, with whom he has established relationships. However, Roberto Mancini, Antonio Conte, Carlo Ancelotti, and Stefano Pioli also remain in the running. The final decision, expected shortly, will have to be ratified by Malagò himself—the very same president whom Binaghi has just torn to shreds on camera during the TG3 news broadcast.