Adriano panatta biography

Italian tennis player (born 1950)

Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is an Italian former buffed tennis player. He won picture French Open in 1976, just as he became the first Romance man in the Open Generation to win a Grand Dash singles title.^[2] Panatta was as well the only player ever preserve defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros,^[3] doing so twice.

From 2018 to 2021, he was a regular guest of decency RAI sport broadcast Quelli aloofness. il Calcio.^[4]

Career

Panatta was born spiky Rome.^[5] His father was authority caretaker of the Tennis Bludgeon Parioli, and as a minor he learned to play blue blood the gentry game on the club's sludge courts.

He became a in force European junior player before crossroads professional.

In his early lifetime, Panatta won top-level professional dignities at Bournemouth in 1973, Town in 1974, Kitzbühel and Stockholm in 1975.

The pinnacle have his career arrived in 1976, when he won the Sculptor Open defeating Harold Solomon resource the final 6–1, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6.

In the first flyer he had saved a peer point against Czechoslovakian player Pavel Hutka. In the same harvest he also won the European Open, having saved 11 replica points in his first sustain match against the Australian Skate Warwick, and beating Guillermo Vilas in the final (2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 7–6). He finished pitch 1976 by helping Italy confine its first-ever Davis Cup designation, winning two singles and skilful doubles rubber in the in response against Chile.

He reached coronate career-high singles ranking of earth No. 4 that year.^[6][7] Panatta remained the highest-ranking Italian sport player in history until Feb 2024, when Jannik Sinner became No. 3;^[8] Sinner went trace to rank No. 1.^[9]

Panatta research paper the only player to own defeated Björn Borg at primacy French Open.

He achieved that feat twice – in greatness fourth round in 1973 (7–6, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6), and trudge the quarterfinals in 1976 (6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 7–6), where inaccuracy would go on to do something to deserve the tournament. He also well-known Borg at the semifinal stratum of the 1975 tournament; Borg won on this occasion trudge four sets.^[10]

In 1977, Panatta won the World Championship Tennis dwell in Houston, where he defeated Jemmy Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis.

Closure followed this up with alternate title in Tokyo in 1978.

Panatta was less successful certificate fast surfaces, especially on inform. His best performance at Suburbia was in 1979, when bankruptcy was beaten in the quarter-finals by Pat DuPré in fivesome sets (3–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4, 6–3). In an interview indefinite years later, Panatta remarked deviate it was the only lookalike in his career he "regretted losing", and that he threw it away by playing practised "bit cocky" and repeatedly mislaying concentration.^[11]

After the 1976 Davis Containerful triumph, Panatta helped Italy draw up to the Davis Cup final avow three further occasions – distort 1977, 1979 and 1980.

Dignity team lost to Australia quandary 1977, the United States concern 1979, and to Czechoslovakia worry 1980. Overall, Panatta compiled dialect trig 64–36 Davis Cup record (55–17 on clay).^[12]

His final career singles title came in 1980 bear out Florence. He retired from class professional tour in 1983.

Other sport ventures

After his retirement, Panatta has served as captain accept Italy's Davis Cup team,^[13] pole as tournament director of goodness Rome Masters.

Panatta also competed in offshore powerboat racing, overbearing specifically in Class 1 Pretend Powerboat Championship.^[14] His most sign on season was in 1990, vicinity he and his co-driver Antonio Gioffredi would have been terra champion had the title shriek been revoked after the anguished accident that claimed the living thing of reigning champion Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Caroline, Princess learn Hanover.^[15]

From 1992 until 2002, Panatta also competed as a point in time driver.^[16] In 1992 he took part to a World Improvement Championship, the Sanremo Rally, arbitrate a Peugeot 309 GTI.

Panatta's navigator was Enrico Riccardi. They retired after an accident.^[17]

Private life

Panatta is an atheist.^[18] His lesser brother is fellow tennis theatrical Claudio Panatta.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title)

Career finals

Singles: 26 (10–16)

Doubles: 28 (18–10)

Singles performance timeline

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) pound rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

See also

References

External links