Together with Nicola Pietrangeli, he is the only Italian in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, one of the most important museums in the world on the history of tennis.
No other reporter or historian possesses comparable knowledge of the present and past of this sport.
Tennis is not only a sporting discipline, but culture, thanks to his research, commitment, careful investigations, in-depth knowledge and passion.

And it is this passion that brought him to nurse the idea of a body that could sum up his way of conceiving a lifetime’s engagement in the world of tennis and the feelings driving his work in this field, with the second goal of divulging the values of this discipline: ethics of loyalty, friendship and healthy competition together with beauty, fun and health.

He has shared and experienced these values since his success as a tennis player in his youth, winning two national junior doubles titles with Fausto Gardini (1947 and 1948) and reaching the junior singles’ finals in 1950. Again in 1950 he conquered the “Coppa de Galea” in Vichy, France, repeating this success at the “Monte Carlo New Eve Tournament” in 1952. But it is as a sports reporter that Gianni Clerici left an indelible mark on the world history of tennis, writing more than 6,000 articles and making a name for himself as one of the most important Italian technical commentators alongside Rino Tommasi. In 2002, the style of their running commentaries was also highlighted in the American weekly TIME in an article entitled “Tennis, Italian Style”. In 1987, he won the “Premio Vallecorsi” as journalist of the year and in 1992, the “Penna d'Oro” award as best Italian columnist.