Sinner, for this time it didn’t go, but there is a positive aspect worth dwelling on.
Big numbers have accustomed us to Matteo Berrettini, who, in 2021, at his first Slam final, had gathered an impressive amount of spectators in front of the television. Jannik Sinner had, in a sense, his path already paved, then, the moment he started getting serious and giving the big boys on the circuit a run for their money.
We can say, in any case, that the South Tyrolean has excellently sent this new “tradition” forward and consolidated the Italians’ love of tennis. That’s why it had not surprised us one bit, in all frankness, to find out that his debut match at the Nitto Atp Finals in Turin had been watched by, think about it, 2.3 million viewers. The match against de Minaur had even got the better of Napoli-Inter, which had raked in half a million fewer viewers.
Last Tuesday, when Sinner had faced Fritz, even more people had tuned in, some on Sky, some on Rai, to enjoy the second act of his ride to the Masters tournament. On that occasion, the number of viewers had risen to no less than 2.9 million. Everything suggested, in short, that Jannik was destined to break yet another record. Which instead, today we know, did not happen.
Jannik Sinner, failed test or maybe not: memorable numbers
The toughest challenge, in every sense of the word, was the World No. 1’s match against Russia’s Medvedev, who has long been his black beast. The match perhaps lost its appeal at a time when, even before the two took the court, the Italian had already qualified for the semifinals in Turin.
Nevertheless, some 2.8 million people wanted to watch the 15th face-off between the two big names on the major circuit. Forgoing, in fact, another event that, at that same juncture, was catalyzing the attention of many more spectators. We refer to the Nations League match between Belgium and Italy, which was played at the same time, but on Rai1, and which attracted a beauty of 6.8 million viewers.
This contest was won by soccer, in short, although it should be stressed that it cannot be called a failed test across the board. Sinner still managed to “steal” from the national sport almost 3 million viewers, something that until recently would have been unthinkable, impossible.