Italy wants to stage tennis on venerated San Siro grass

Officials in tennis powerhouse italy have thrown out some radical proposals to shake up the sport, including the possible staging of a pre-Wimbledon grass event in June on the grass of Milan’s iconic San Siro football stadium

The historic stadium is due to become redundant around 2030, with Italian football Serie A protagonists AC Milan and Inter Milan planning to construct a new 71,500-seat facility on land adjacent to the original structure.

Italian tennis boss Angelo Binaghi has already launched plans for a grass tournament at San Siro, using the existing grass surface.

The federation has bought staging rights to a 250-level ATP Tour tournament in Brussels, formerly played in October and hoeps to stage the new grass event in summer, 2028.

.“There’s still time to decide where to play it,” Binaghi said. “For climate reasons, it will probably be held in northern Italy.”

The Italians, boosted by the world No. 1 success of Jannik Sinner and Grand Slam finals appearances from Jasmine Paolini, is also pushing hard to swallow the current Madrid Masters (starting play this month) and create what Binaghi hypes as the “fifth Grand Slam.”

The country already hosts the ATP Finals through through 2030 and the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna through next year.

Binaghi is planning to put a retractable roof over Campo Centrale at the Foro Italico, home of the Rome Masters played in May prior to Roland Garros and wants it to be ready after a rush job construction process by 2028.

“I think about it every day,” Binaghi said. “There’s only a brief window when we can achieve this. … Italy would benefit from it for 100 years. It’s our dream.”

Main photo:- Angelo Binaghi with Jannik Sinner – by Italian Federation