The president of the Italian Tennis Federation, Angelo Binaghi, has publicly announced that the Internazionali BNL d’Italia could move from Rome to Milan if certain things don’t change.
The Foro Italico has staged this tournament since 1935 but it no longer has the size and space to stage such an event comfortably and could therefore be replaced, as well as the fact the tournament organizers and local authorities are clashing heads over different issues as things stand.
Angelo Binaghi stated, “One on hand it would be crazy to abandon this location, but on the other hand we must remember that the historical centre of Italian tennis is Milan. The tournament is only in Rome because of its history and tradition. I hope this won’t happen and that we can find a solution to expand here, but it would be much easier to expand quickly in Milan. The tournament has grown a huge deal in the past decade and we have no more space”.
“Nothing is going to happen in the upcoming months. It’s a long term decision. We’ve asked to use the Colosseum for the draw. This time they can’t say no because we made the request seven months in advance”, continued Binaghi.
It must be pointed out that Rome is a candidate to host the 2024 Olympic Games and this could lead to the construction of new facilities in the Italian capital, thus keeping the historic tournament in the capital. In an era where the tradition of Wimbledon clashes with avant-garde decisions such as playing on blue clay a couple of years ago in Madrid, the purists could say it would be positive for the tournament to continue being played at the same venue it has done for the past 80 years.
