Adriano Panatta

Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He won the 1976 French Open, becoming the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a major singles title. That year, Panatta also led Italy to the Davis Cup crown, and he reached his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Panatta was the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at the French Open, doing so twice.

From 2018 to 2021, he was a regular guest of the RAI sport broadcast Quelli che... il Calcio.

Career Panatta was born in Rome. His father was the caretaker of the Tennis Club Parioli, and as a youngster he learned to play the game on the club's clay courts. He became a successful European junior player before turning professional.

In his early career, Panatta won top-level professional titles at Bournemouth in 1973, Florence in 1974, Kitzbühel and Stockholm in 1975.

The pinnacle of his career arrived in 1976 at the French Open. In the first round he saved a match point against Czechoslovak player Pavel Hutka. In the final he beat Harold Solomon in four sets. Panatta relied on "his strong serve and his soccer goalkeeper's reflexes at the net" (he served 10 aces). In the same year he also won the Italian Open, having saved 11 match points in his first round match against the Australian Kim Warwick, and beating Guillermo Vilas in the final in four sets. He finished off 1976 by helping Italy capture its first-ever Davis Cup title, winning two singles and a doubles rubber in the final against Chile. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 that year. Panatta remained the highest-ranking Italian tennis player in history until February 2024, when Jannik Sinner became No. 3; Sinner went on to rank No. 1.

Panatta is the only player to have defeated Björn Borg at the French Open. He achieved this feat twice – in the fourth round in 1973 and the quarterfinals in 1976 en route to the title. He also faced Borg at the semifinal stage of the 1975 tournament, with Borg winning. All three matches were won in four sets.

In 1977, Panatta won the World Championship Tennis in Houston, where he defeated Jimmy Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis. He followed this up with another title in Tokyo in 1978.

Panatta was less successful on fast surfaces, especially on grass. His best performance at Wimbledon was in 1979, when he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Pat DuPré in five sets. In an interview many years later, Panatta remarked that it was the only match in his career he "regretted losing", and that he threw it away by playing a "bit cocky" and repeatedly losing concentration.

After the 1976 Davis Cup triumph, Panatta helped Italy reach the Davis Cup final on three further occasions – in 1977, 1979 and 1980. The team lost to Australia in 1977, the United States in 1979, and to Czechoslovakia in 1980. Overall, Panatta compiled a 64–36 Davis Cup record (55–17 on clay).

His final career singles title came in 1980 at Florence. He retired from the professional tour in 1983.

Other sport ventures After his retirement, Panatta has served as captain of Italy's Davis Cup team, and as tournament director of the Rome Masters.

Panatta also competed in offshore powerboat racing, most specifically in Class 1 World Powerboat Championship. His most successful season was in 1990, where he and his co-driver Antonio Gioffredi would have been world champion had the title not been revoked after the tragic accident that claimed the life of reigning champion Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Caroline, Princess of Hanover.

From 1992 until 2002, Panatta also competed as a rally driver. In 1992 he took part to a World Rally Championship, the Sanremo Rally, in a Peugeot 309 GTI. Panatta's navigator was Enrico Riccardi. They retired after an accident.

Private life Panatta is an atheist. His younger brother is fellow tennis player Claudio Panatta.

Grand Slam finals Singles (1 title) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1976 French Open Clay Harold Solomon 6–1, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6

Career finals Singles: 26 (10–16) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Aug 1971 Senigallia, Italy Clay Martin Mulligan 6–3, 7–5, 6–1Loss 1–1 Jun 1972 Hamburg, Germany Clay Manuel Orantes 3–6, 8–9, 0–6Loss 1–2 Jul 1972 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Andrés Gimeno 5–7, 8–9, 4–6Loss 1–3 Apr 1973 Valencia, Spain Clay Manuel Orantes 4–6, 4–6, 3–6Loss 1–4 Apr 1973 Barcelona, Spain Clay Ilie Năstase 1–6, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6Loss 1–5 Apr 1973 Nice, France Clay Manuel Orantes 6–7, 7–5, 6–4, 6–7, 10–12Loss 1–6 Apr 1973 Madrid, Spain Clay Ilie Năstase 3–6, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6Loss 1–7 May 1973 Florence, Italy Clay Ilie Năstase 3–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–7, 4–6Win 2–7 May 1973 Bournemouth, UK Clay Ilie Năstase 6–8, 7–5, 6–3, 8–6Win 3–7 May 1974 Florence, Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci 6–3, 6–1Loss 3–8 Jul 1974 Båstad, Sweden Clay Björn Borg 3–6, 0–6, 7–6, 3–6Win 4–8 Jul 1975 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Jan Kodeš 2–6, 6–2, 7–5, 6–4Loss 4–9 Oct 1975 Madrid, Spain Clay Jan Kodeš 2–6, 6–3, 6–7, 2–6Loss 4–10 Oct 1975 Barcelona, Spain Clay Björn Borg 6–1, 6–7, 3–6, 2–6Win 5–10 Nov 1975 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Jimmy Connors 4–6, 6–3, 7–5Loss 5–11 Nov 1975 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Guillermo Vilas 6–2, 2–6, 6–4Win 6–11 May 1976 Rome, Italy Clay Guillermo Vilas 2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 7–6Win 7–11 Jun 1976French Open, Paris Clay Harold Solomon 6–1, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6Loss 7–12 Jul 1976 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Raúl Ramírez 5–7, 7–6, 1–6, 3–6Win 8–12 Apr 1977 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Vitas Gerulaitis 7–6, 6–7, 6–1Loss 8–13 May 1978 Rome, Italy Clay Björn Borg 6–1, 3–6, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6Win 9–13 Oct 1978 Tokyo Outdoor, Japan Clay Pat DuPré 6–3, 6–3Loss 9–14 Nov 1978 Bologna Indoor, Italy Carpet (i) Peter Fleming 2–6, 6–7Win 10–14 May 1980 Florence, Italy Clay Raúl Ramírez 6–2, 2–6, 6–4Loss 10–15 Sep 1980 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Balázs Taróczy 3–6, 2–6Loss 10–16 Nov 1980 Paris Indoor, France Hard (i) Brian Gottfried 6–4, 3–6, 1–6, 6–7

Doubles: 28 (18–10) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 May 1973 Florence. Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci Juan Gisbert Ilie Năstase 6–3, 6–4Win 2–0 Mar 1974 São Paulo WCT, Brazil Carpet (i) Ion Țiriac Ove Nils Bengtson Björn Borg 7-5, 3-6, 6-3Win 3–0 May 1974 Florence, Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci Róbert Machán Balázs Taróczy 6–3, 3–6, 6–4Win 4–0 Jul 1974 Båstad, Sweden Clay Paolo Bertolucci Ove Nils Bengtson Björn Borg 3–6, 6–2, 6–4Loss 4–1 Feb 1975 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet Paolo Bertolucci Hans Kary Fred McNair 6–7(6–8), 7–5, 6–7(6–8)Win 5–1 Feb 1975 Bologna Indoor, Italy Carpet (i) Paolo Bertolucci Arthur Ashe Tom Okker 6–3, 3–6, 6–3Loss 5–2 Feb 1975 Barcelona WCT, Spain Carpet (i) Paolo Bertolucci Arthur Ashe Tom Okker 5–7, 1–6Win 6–2 Mar 1975 London WCT, UK Carpet (i) Paolo Bertolucci Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 6–3, 6–4Win 7–2 Jul 1975 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Paolo Bertolucci Patrice Dominguez François Jauffret 6–2, 6–2, 7–6Win 8–2 Nov 1975 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Paolo Bertolucci Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 7–6, 6–7, 6–4Loss 8–3 Apr 1976 Stockholm, Sweden Carpet (i) Tom Okker Alex Metreveli Ilie Năstase 4–6, 5–7Loss 8–4 Jul 1976 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Paolo Bertolucci Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 5–7, 3–6, 3–6Loss 8–5 Feb 1977 Mexico City WCT, Mexico Hard Ilie Năstase Wojtek Fibak Tom Okker 2–6, 3–6Win 9–5 Mar 1977 St. Louis WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Ilie Năstase Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton 6–4, 3–6, 7–6Win 10–5 Apr 1977 London WCT, UK Carpet (i) Ilie Năstase Mark Cox Eddie Dibbs 7–6, 6–7, 6–3Win 11–5 Apr 1977 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Ilie Năstase John Alexander Phil Dent 6–3, 6–4Loss 11–6 Apr 1977 Charlotte WCT, U.S. Clay Corrado Barazzutti Tom Okker Ken Rosewall 1–6, 6–3, 6–7Loss 11–7 May 1977Masters Doubles WCT, Kansas City Carpet (i) Vitas Gerulaitis Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton 6–7, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6Win 12–7 May 1978 Florence, Italy Clay Corrado Barazzutti Mark Edmondson John Marks 6–3, 6–7, 6–3Loss 12–8 Apr 1979 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Raúl Ramírez Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart 6–4, 4–6, 6–7Win 13–8 May 1979 Florence, Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci Ivan Lendl Pavel Složil 6–4, 6–3Win 14–8 Oct 1979 Barcelona, Spain Clay Paolo Bertolucci Carlos Kirmayr Cássio Motta 6–4, 6–3Win 15–8 Apr 1980 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Paolo Bertolucci Vitas Gerulaitis John McEnroe 6–2, 5–7, 6–3Loss 15–9 May 1980 Florence, Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci Gene Mayer Raúl Ramírez 1–6, 4–6Win 16–9 Nov 1980 Paris Indoor, France Hard (i) Paolo Bertolucci Brian Gottfried Raymond Moore 6–4, 6–4Win 17–9 Mar 1981 Nancy, France Carpet (i) Ilie Năstase John Feaver Jiří Hřebec 6–4, 2–6, 6–4Loss 17–10 May 1981 Florence, Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci Raúl Ramírez Pavel Složil 3–6, 6–3, 3–6Win 18–10 May 1982 Florence, Italy Clay Paolo Bertolucci Sammy Giammalva Jr. Tony Giammalva 7–6, 6–1

Singles performance timeline

Tournament196919701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983SRW–LGrand Slam tournamentsAustralian Open1RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0 / 10–1French Open1R4R3RQFSF2RSFWQF2R3R1R2R2RA1 / 1434–13WimbledonQ11R3R3RA3R3R3R2RAQF3RAAA0 / 917–9US OpenAAA1R3RAA2R3R4R1RA3RAA0 / 710–7Win–loss0–23–24–25–37–22–27–210–27–34–26–32–23–21–10–01 / 3161–30OtherItalian Open2R2R2R1R2R1R3RWQFFQF2RQF1R1R1 / 1527–14RankingYear-end ranking––––1434147232329343976

See also Tennis in Italy

References

External links