When, in 1976, Italy was having a serious debate (and triumphed in Santiago). A book

There are years that seem to pack in a decade’s worth of events, and 1976 was one of them. There were the elections on 20 June with the PCI’s sensational result, the Friuli earthquake, the toxic cloud over Seveso, the launch of the daily newspaper La Repubblica, and the appointment of the first female minister, Tina Anselmi, to name but a few events: a country undergoing transformation while debating, passionately and rationally, its own destiny. And then there were the Montreal Olympics, which left the Canadian city with a debt that was only paid off thirty years later and forced the world to rethink the model of the Games: a lesson to bear in mind even today, in the wake of Milan–Cortina.

In this extraordinary year, Eliana Di Caro, in "L’anno della Davis. 1976 and a Changing Italy (il Mulino, 152 pp., 15 euros), recounts the feat that brought the Davis Cup to Italy for the first time. The author, an established journalist specialising in culture and tennis, does so with elegant prose – light in the Calvinian sense – that never compromises on accuracy. Over 130 pages, the author retraces an epic story, weaving it into the Italian and international political context and the tragedy of Chile: the final in Santiago, under Pinochet and his atrocious dictatorship, and the agonising debate over whether to go there. The book is structured around testimonies, documents and images. Among the recurring voices, those of Giuliano Amato and Paolo Bertolucci – one of the key figures on the court – stand out: both are exceptional witnesses who, through their various quotes, convey the atmosphere of the time better than any retrospective account.

What emerges is a portrait of a country that seems to no longer exist, at least in terms of the depth and seriousness with which it used to engage in debate. People could disagree fiercely over a tennis match because everyone knew it was not just a tennis match. Equally valuable is the account of the lives – sporting and otherwise – of Barazzutti, Bertolucci, Panatta, Zugarelli, Captain Pietrangeli and technical director Belardinelli. It is a world of clubs, sacrifices and friendships that ultimately paved the way for today’s professional era.

From a sporting perspective, this story has a happy ending. Italian tennis has gone on to achieve the exceptional results of recent years: the new Davis Cup victories, Sinner reaching the top of the world rankings, and an entire generation at the very top. 1976 marked the beginning of a journey, made possible by the ability of the institutions that have guided Italian tennis – starting with the federation – to invest, organise and broaden the player base. The comparison with football is stark. As early as the 1970s, Gianni Brera was denouncing the neglect of the middle class. That erosion, combined with the backwardness of the institutions, led to a slow decline and then a collapse, confirmed by the third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup. These are two sports with two different governance models and two contrasting fates.