Obituary: Rino Tommasi
The ITF was saddened to learn of the death of Italian journalist, broadcaster and historian, Rino Tommasi at the age of 90 on 8 February.
Born in Verona on February 23 1934, Tommasi began working at the Sportinformazioni agency in 1953, while serving as a Milan correspondent for Corriere dello Sport. A leading tennis writer for Gazzetta dello Sport, he also worked for the Messaggero, Gazzettino di Venezia and Mattino di Napoli, and founded a weekly magazine in the early 1970s, “Tennis Club”.
In 1981 Tommasi was chosen as the first director of sports services for Canale 5. This saw the start of his career as a commentator that intersected with that of another legendary Italian journalist Gianni Clerici. The two men formed one of the most recognisable sports commentator duos in Italy, and over the next 30 years he established himself as the most popular sports commentator in the history of Italian sport. For Tommasi, Clerici coined the nickname "ComputeRino", for his obsession with recording records and statistics.
Tommasi’s other great passion was boxing, of which he was the first Italian impresario, in particular at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome on behalf of the Italian Sports Organisations.
As a young man Tomassi was a good second category tennis player and won the Italian university championships. Sport had always been a family passion. His father Virgilio participated in two Olympics, in 1924 in Paris and in 1928 Amsterdam in the long jump, and his uncle Angelo competed in Los Angeles in the high jump in 1932.
Angelo Binaghi, President of the Italian and Padel Federation, said: “Just mentioning Rino Tommasi is equivalent to evoking a great piece of tennis history, as he covered hundreds of Slams, Davis Cups and Masters as a journalist. We all remember his statistical precision but above all his passion for the world of the racket that he shared along with his passion for the ring. Even his commentaries with Gianni Clerici remain a source of inspiration for those who came after them. On a personal level, we had one idea in common, that of the formula that the Davis Cup should have, so that it was, and would become, truly the world championship for nations.”
Twice named as the ATP’s Tennis Writer of the Year in 1982 and 1991, Tomassi also received the ATP’s prestigious Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award in 1993.