Adriano Panatta

Adriano Panatta

Adriano Panatta (1976)
Country (sports)	Italy
Born	(1950-07-09) 9 July 1950 (age 75) Rome, Italy
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro	1969 (amateur from 1968)
Retired	1983
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$776,187
Singles
Career record	408–245 (62.5%)[1]
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 4 (24 August 1976)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (1969)
French Open	W (1976)
Wimbledon	QF (1979)
US Open	4R (1978)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (1975)
WCT Finals	QF (1977)
Doubles
Career record	233–152 (60.5%)
Career titles	18
Highest ranking	No. 15 (24 March 1980)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1976)
Medal record Representing  Italy Mediterranean Games 1971 İzmir Doubles

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.^[2] 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,^[3] doing so twice.

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

Career

Panatta was born in Rome.^[5] 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).^[6] 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.^[7][8] Panatta remained the highest-ranking Italian tennis player in history until February 2024, when Jannik Sinner became No. 3;^[9] Sinner went on to rank No. 1.^[10]

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.^[11]

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.^[12]

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).^[13]

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,^[14] and as tournament director of the Rome Masters.

Panatta also competed in offshore powerboat racing, most specifically in Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.^[15] 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.^[16]

From 1992 until 2002, Panatta also competed as a rally driver.^[17] 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.^[18]

Private life

Panatta is an atheist.^[19] His younger brother is fellow tennis player Claudio Panatta.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1976	French Open	Clay	Harold Solomon	6–1, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6

Career finals

Singles: 26 (10–16)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Aug 1971	Senigallia, Italy	Clay	Martin Mulligan	6–3, 7–5, 6–1
Loss	1–1	Jun 1972	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Manuel Orantes	3–6, 8–9, 0–6
Loss	1–2	Jul 1972	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Andrés Gimeno	5–7, 8–9, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Apr 1973	Valencia, Spain	Clay	Manuel Orantes	4–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	1–4	Apr 1973	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Ilie Năstase	1–6, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6
Loss	1–5	Apr 1973	Nice, France	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6–7, 7–5, 6–4, 6–7, 10–12
Loss	1–6	Apr 1973	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Ilie Năstase	3–6, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6
Loss	1–7	May 1973	Florence, Italy	Clay	Ilie Năstase	3–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–7, 4–6
Win	2–7	May 1973	Bournemouth, UK	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–8, 7–5, 6–3, 8–6
Win	3–7	May 1974	Florence, Italy[20]	Clay	Paolo Bertolucci	6–3, 6–1
Loss	3–8	Jul 1974	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Björn Borg	3–6, 0–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win	4–8	Jul 1975	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Jan Kodeš	2–6, 6–2, 7–5, 6–4
Loss	4–9	Oct 1975	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Jan Kodeš	2–6, 6–3, 6–7, 2–6
Loss	4–10	Oct 1975	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Björn Borg	6–1, 6–7, 3–6, 2–6
Win	5–10	Nov 1975	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Jimmy Connors	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Loss	5–11	Nov 1975	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Win	6–11	May 1976	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 7–6
Win	7–11	Jun 1976	French Open, Paris	Clay	Harold Solomon	6–1, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6
Loss	7–12	Jul 1976	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	5–7, 7–6, 1–6, 3–6
Win	8–12	Apr 1977	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Vitas Gerulaitis	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
Loss	8–13	May 1978	Rome, Italy	Clay	Björn Borg	6–1, 3–6, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win	9–13	Oct 1978	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Clay	Pat DuPré	6–3, 6–3
Loss	9–14	Nov 1978	Bologna Indoor, Italy	Carpet (i)	Peter Fleming	2–6, 6–7
Win	10–14	May 1980	Florence, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Loss	10–15	Sep 1980	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Balázs Taróczy	3–6, 2–6
Loss	10–16	Nov 1980	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Brian Gottfried	6–4, 3–6, 1–6, 6–7

Doubles: 28 (18–10)

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

Singles performance timeline

See also

• Tennis in Italy

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Adriano Panatta.

• Adriano Panatta at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Adriano Panatta at the International Tennis Federation
• Adriano Panatta at the Davis Cup (archived)