Mauro Mazza, not just Jannik Sinner: resurfaces the'episode that infuriated tennis fans

The uproar over Mauro Mazza’s harsh attack on Jannik Sinner, described as “Italian but not too Italian,” in an article in L’Arena has not yet died down. Meanwhile, an episode from 2013 involving the Roman journalist, then director of Rai Sport, has come to light again: during the third and decisive set of a final that lasted three hours – the second longest in the history of Roland Garros in Paris – the Rai Sport 1 channel interrupted the viewing of the match between Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Romania’s Simona Halep.

Suddenly, and without warning, a voice announced, “Welcome to Frosinone for the match with Lecce, Serie B is up for grabs.” Within seconds it went from Paris to Ciociaria (where the promotion playoff to land in the cadet league was being played), much to the disappointment of tennis fans. The episode was dubbed a media “own goal” for Rai.

Mazza’s attack on Sinner, published Saturday, April 18, in L’Arena, sparked a real storm on social media. The former Tg2 director had written that “that red-haired tall man we admire, his triumphs warm our hearts (while he remains almost impassive) but we don’t love him,” concluding that Sinner would be “Italian for a manner of speaking,” not because of the' “Austrian accent” but because “perfect, too different to feel close to us.”

The reactions were immediate and harsh. Among the firmest in distancing himself from Mazza’s words is former national team footballer Aldo Serena, who wrote on X: “Dear @MauroMazzaRai use the singular and not the plural, have the courage of your actions and do not involve us. I am not like you and I am amazed that a man, a journalist who has been part of the public service has such narrow-minded thinking.”

The controversy appears even more jarring when one considers the historical moment Sinner is living. The world No. 1 is competing in the Madrid Masters 1000, scheduled for April 22 to May 3, where he is aiming to win his fifth consecutive Masters 1000 — after Paris-Bercy, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo — a feat no tennis player has ever achieved in the circuit’s history.