No, the “hawk” was not yet flying on international tennis courts (not even on the most prestigious ones), the technology had not yet taken off and the era of the Fab Four was not even in its embryonic state. It was 1998 when Italy played the last Davis Cup final against Sweden. An epic match that will go down in history especially for Gaudenzi’s stoic performance against Magnus Norman. Only an injury – a cursed shoulder injury which, ever since, still hurts… all Italians – prevented the Italian from competing until the end. In the end, he gave up at 2-2 and retired at 6 all in the fifth (yes, because at the time Davis was playing until the fifth set).
The main events of 1998
But far beyond tennis, 1998 goes down in history for other events. On January 17, for example, Paula Jones accused US President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment. On March 23, however, the film “Titanic” with Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet is full of statuettes (11 awards out of 14 nominations) on Oscar Night. On May 2, then, the single European currency was officially born, which will then be usable from 2002. But 1998 is also the year of the great tragedy in Sarno: a very serious landslide which submerges dozens of homes with mudflows; on that cursed May 5th 137 lose their lives. A few days later (the 22nd) the Expo takes place in Lisbon. June is the month of great sporting achievements (Marco Pantani wins the Giro d’Italia after sensational comebacks in the mountains and a few weeks later achieves an encore in the Tour de France) and IT (Windows 98 is launched). Still remaining in the sporting field: Sampras wins Wimbledon and France hosts and triumphs at the World Football Championships. On September 9th, however, the singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti passed away. In October, the dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in Chile.
It seems like an eternity has passed, but just 25 years have passed. Yes, just…