There is something significant happening in Italians' relationship with sport, and this week's numbers tell it better than any analysis.
On Wednesday evening, on Rai 1, the friendly football match between Luxembourg and ItalyThe match drew 3.995.000 viewers, equivalent to a 21,7% share. Not a disastrous result, certainly—the national team won and maintained first place for the evening—but it's a figure that prompts reflection. We're talking about an Italy team that hasn't qualified for the World Cup, playing against Luxembourg in a June friendly that's struggling to find a narrative that warms hearts.
Meanwhile, in Paris, another story was unfolding.
On Friday, June 5th, Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi will stage the first all-Italian Grand Slam semifinal in tennis history, securing an Italian flag in the Roland Garros final: for the first time in the Open Era, two consecutive finals will be played by an Italian. A historic, literally unprecedented feat.
And all of this, let's emphasize, against all odds, given Sinner's sudden absence. Jannik, the world number one, the champion who inspired an entire country to fall in love with tennis, was already out of the tournament, yet Italy hasn't stopped being a protagonist. The 2026 Roland Garros has already set a record with three Italians simultaneously in the quarterfinals: Cobolli, Berrettini, and Arnaldi. An all-time record for Italian men's tennis at a Grand Slam, yet another record broken in recent years.
Cobolli is the fourth Italian this century to reach the men's singles semifinal at Roland Garros, following Marco Cecchinato, Jannik Sinner, and Lorenzo Musetti. An entire generation has built something solid, profound, and systemic.
The question, then, arises spontaneously: are we witnessing a changing of the guard in the national sport par excellence?
It's not about pitting two sports against each other; soccer will always be part of the Italian identity, with its clubs, its rivalries, its history. But there's something that tennis has been able to give Italians in recent years that goes beyond results: a sense of belonging, of daily pride, of good news that keeps coming back. For the second year in a row, an Italian tennis player will reach the Roland Garros final. A continuity that Italian soccer is struggling to offer right now.
Arnaldi and Cobolli aren't Sinners (none are), but they demonstrate that the Italian movement doesn't depend on a single champion. They're 24-year-olds, the same age, who grew up watching the same heroes, and trained in a system that finally works. On Friday, June 5th, Sanremo native Matteo Arnaldi will challenge Flavio Cobolli for a spot in the final of the first all-Italian Grand Slam semifinal in history.
The national football team won last night. Good. But in Paris, something bigger is being built, and Italians, increasingly, know it.
