Adriano Panatta facts for kids
| Country (sports) |  Italy |
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| Residence | Treviso, Italy | ||||||||||
| Born | 9 July 1950 Rome, Italy |
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| 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 | ||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||
| Career titles | 18 | ||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 15 (24 March 1980) | ||||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||||
| Davis Cup | W (1976) | ||||||||||
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Medal record
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Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is a famous Italian former tennis player. He is best known for winning the French Open in 1976. This made him the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a major tennis title called a Grand Slam in singles.
Panatta also holds a special record: he was the only player to ever beat the legendary Björn Borg at the French Open, and he did it twice! After his tennis career, he was a regular guest on a sports TV show in Italy called Quelli che... il Calcio from 2018 to 2021.
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Adriano Panatta's Tennis Career
Adriano Panatta was born in Rome, Italy. His father worked at the Tennis Club Parioli, which is where Adriano first learned to play tennis on the club's clay courts. He became a very good junior player in Europe before he started playing professionally.
Early Wins and Major Success
In his early professional career, Panatta won several important tournaments. He won titles in places like Bournemouth in 1973, Florence in 1974, and both Kitzbühel and Stockholm in 1975.
The most important year of his career was 1976. That year, he won the French Open by beating Harold Solomon in the final. It was a tough tournament, as he had to save a match point in his very first match against Pavel Hutka. In the same year, he also won the Italian Open. He had to save an amazing 11 match points in his first match there against Kim Warwick before beating Guillermo Vilas in the final.
Davis Cup and World Ranking
To top off his amazing 1976, Panatta helped Italy win its first-ever Davis Cup title. He won two singles matches and one doubles match in the final against Chile. Because of all these wins, he reached his highest singles ranking of world No. 4 that year. For a long time, Panatta was the highest-ranked Italian male tennis player in history. This record was only broken in February 2024 when Jannik Sinner reached No. 3, and later No. 1.
Facing Björn Borg
Panatta is famous for being the only player to defeat Björn Borg at the French Open. He beat Borg twice:
- In the fourth round in 1973.
- In the quarterfinals in 1976, the year he went on to win the tournament.
He also played Borg in the semifinals of the 1975 tournament, but Borg won that match.
Later Career and Retirement
In 1977, Panatta won the World Championship Tennis event in Houston, where he defeated strong players like Jimmy Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis. He then won another title in Tokyo in 1978.
Panatta was not as successful on faster tennis courts, especially grass courts. His best performance at Wimbledon was in 1979. He reached the quarter-finals but lost a very close five-set match. He later said that was the only match he regretted losing, feeling he played "a bit cocky" and lost focus.
After the big Davis Cup win in 1976, Panatta helped the Italian team reach the Davis Cup final three more times: in 1977, 1979, and 1980. They lost to Australia in 1977, the United States in 1979, and Czechoslovakia in 1980. Overall, Panatta had a great record in the Davis Cup, winning 64 matches and losing 36. Most of his wins (55) were on clay courts.
His last singles title came in 1980 in Florence. He stopped playing professional tennis in 1983. In total, he won 10 singles titles and 18 doubles titles during his career.
Other Sports and Activities
After retiring from tennis, Panatta continued to be involved in sports. He served as the captain of Italy's Davis Cup team. He also became the tournament director for the Rome Masters, a big tennis event.
Panatta also enjoyed other exciting sports:
- He competed in offshore powerboat racing, which involves very fast boats on the water. His best year was 1990.
- From 1992 to 2002, Panatta also competed as a rally driver. He even took part in a World Rally Championship event, the Sanremo Rally, in 1992.
Private Life
Adriano Panatta's younger brother, Claudio Panatta, was also a tennis player.
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 |
See Also
In Spanish: Adriano Panatta para niños
- Tennis in Italy
