The Major Tournaments
Wimbledon ’76: ‘Admiration, Respect, and Boredom’
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty. The Picture of Dorian Gray The "scribe of tennis," Gianni Clerici, with his…
Zuga, the Price of Inexperience
Rome, May 22, 1977. Final of the Italian Open. Vitas Gerulaitis (US) defeated Tonino Zugarelli (IT): 6–2, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6. I just needed to make one more point, and I wouldn’t be here talking now. I’d still be out there…
United States of “Italy”
I had never seen, in a Grand Slam final, two girls sitting and chatting with a smile, as if they had just finished a club match and were sharing secrets about some trivial matter—almost as if one were asking the…
The Predestined Sinner
On November 8, 2019, Gianni Clerici titled an article in *La Repubblica*: “The Chosen One, Sinner: Never Have We Seen an Italian This Strong.” Jannik, who had just turned 18, had just defeated Frances Tiafoe and Mikael Ymer at the…
A marvel in the capital: Jasmine’s spring, forty years after Reggi
Before May 17, 2025, only three Italian women had managed to win the singles title at the Italian Open: the first was Lucia Valerio, a true dominant figure in Italian tennis in the postwar period and winner of the second…
Montecarlo: a rather… Italian tournament
Starting Saturday, April 5th, the Monte-Carlo Masters will take place—a tournament founded in 1897 and now in its 118th edition. A historic stop on the circuit, the red clay of Monaco has witnessed the triumphs of many greats of the…
Monte-Carlo Country Club – in the footsteps of Suzanne Lenglen
Monte Carlo, a central district and the jewel in the crown of the semi-enclave that is the Principality of Monaco, a gem nestled at the eastern edge of the French Riviera. It’s 1893: among royal residences and palaces clinging to…