Angelo Binaghi compares Jannik Sinner to Gigi Riva and uplifts Matteo Berrettini

FITP President Angelo Binaghi on the sidelines of the “Sport, Growth and Development” event in Cagliari, Italy, spoke to Sky Sport: “I was unable to be present at Gigi Riva’s funeral because I was in Australia with Sinner. I like to think that the victory of a champion so similar as Jannik to a hero like Riva may have been a last salute, a last commendation to the great man and champion. For us Sardinians, Gigi Riva was a hero; he led a generation of young Cagliari people. He changed the perception of us Sardinians”.

“I think there are great similarities between Sinner and Riva. We are talking about two champions from humble beginnings, who came from very decentralized parts of our country and were fortunate enough to grow up in very healthy families with great principles. And they made a great lesson out of these principles. If you ask Sinner what he should do after a great victory, he says his doctrine is daily work. And this has not always been the mantra of Italian sports champions”.

“They have been different from everyone else, and this is an added value that multiplies the positive effects on society. It is the words, behaviors, and principles that Sinner, Paolini, and Musetti continue to transmit to try to have on the one hand a better country, but above all a reputational value abroad that raises the image of Italy in the rest of the world.”

They are the ones who have been different from everyone else.

Chapter Matteo Berrettini: “I sent a message to Matteo just yesterday. I wrote to him that he was making me feel good again. It was quite a complex period for him. And to see that he was training with Jannik… I told him that Italian tennis needs him, that the sport needs Matteo Berrettini. I think he had some problems, however, it is important to get Matteo back for the Davis Cup team, but also for our movement, for the great results he has done on the court, he who is a player of great experience and great personality. Together with Jannik he has to be the leader of this generation of extraordinary young people that the whole world envies us”.