Farewell to Rino Tommasi, historic voice of tennis and boxing

Rino Tommasi, a point of reference in the world of sport and journalism, has died at the age of 90. The Fitp website, Supertennis, reports this. Journalist, then television commentator and organizer of boxing events, he started in 1953 in the “Sportinformazioni” agency, dedicated to sport, which also acted as the Milanese correspondence office for the Corriere dello Sport.

Leading signature for tennis at the Gazzetta dello Sport, he also worked for the Messaggero, the Gazzettino di Venezia and the Mattino di Napoli. He also founded a weekly newspaper in the early seventies, “Tennis Club”.

In 1981 he was chosen as the first director of the sports services of Canale 5. Thus began his career as a commentator which intersects with that of Gianni Clerici, after whom the press room of the Foro Italico is named. The two form one of the most recognized and recognizable pairs of sports commentators in Italy. For him, Clerici coined the nickname “ComputeRino”, for his obsessiveness in recording records and statistics.

And for Clerici, Tommasi had invented the equally famous label of “Doctor Divago”. His other great passion was boxing, of which he was the first Italian impresario, in particular at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome with his Itos (Italian sports organisations).