Adriano Panatta was expecting to award the French Open trophy to Jannik Sinner 50 years after his own triumph in Paris
Turns out he might still hand over the Coupe des Mousquetaires to a fellow Italian after the men’s singles final on Sunday after being invited by Roland Garros to take care of the honors on the anniversary of his 1976 triumph.
Cobolli comes from the same tennis club in Rome as Panatta did. Panatta’s father was the caretaker at the Tennis Club Parioli. Several years ago, Cobolli and his father and coach, Stefano, paid Panatta a visit at the club in Treviso, northern Italy, that Panatta created after his playing career.
“I told them he was going to be a great player,” Panatta said. “Of course, I didn’t realize it would be so soon. ”Panatta was the only man to beat Bjorn Borg twice at the French Open, in the fourth round in 1973 and in the quarterfinals in 1976. The only other time they met in Paris was in 1975 when Borg won in the semifinals and went on to claim the second of his six Roland Garros titles.
“I liked playing these clay-court specialists like Borg and Vilas,” said Panatta, who beat Vilas in the Italian Open final just before winning the French Open. “I had a very varied game and attacked a lot and hit a lot of drop shots. I didn’t play like them.
“If two players play the same way, the stronger player always wins. I played with a different style and that probably bothered them. ”Panatta beat two more clay-court specialists, Americans Eddie Dibbs and Harold Solomon, in the semifinals and final, respectively. The final was a rematch of a controversial quarterfinal in Rome between Panatta and Solomon in which Solomon walked away while serving for the match after getting infuriated over a perceived missed call.
Needless to say, both players were motivated for the rematch in the Paris final. But Panatta had a problem when he realized that his doubles partner, Paolo Bertolucci, had mistakenly taken his tennis sneakers home with him. $30,000 winner's check Panatta said he received $30,000 for his French Open title — about what players who lose in the first round of qualifying earn now.
He’s having a hard time wrapping his head around the current players’ protesting for a bigger share of tournament revenues. Panatta recalls how players boycotted Wimbledon in 1973 after Croatian player Nikola Pilić was suspended. While Panatta pines for the old days when there were more players like him who employed serve-and-volley tactics, he still appreciates players like Sinner who push the limits of baseline tennis.
“When there’s excellence, it’s never boring,” Panatta said. “When someone performs near the limit of perfection, it’s inspiring. ”Panatta was also invited to participate in the trophy ceremony in Rome last month when Sinner became the first Italian man to win that title since Panatta in 1976. During the ceremony, Sinner jokingly told the 75-year-old Panatta that obviously he’s too young to have seen him play and that “my parents probably hadn’t even gotten together yet” back then.
Like Panatta, who drove rally cars and speed boats after he retired from tennis, Sinner has a taste for speed and likes to race go-karts and watch Formula 1.
“That was when the Davis Cup was the real Davis Cup,” Panatta said. “It was worth just as much as a Grand Slam. ”“Rome was the most sentimental because the Foro Italico was where I started to play tennis. Roland Garros was the most important one because it was a Grand Slam.
And the Davis Cup was a team event and we had a team of players who knew each other since they were little kids,” Panatta said.
“They were three entirely different emotions. ”FOX SPORTS™, SPEED™, SPEED. COM™ & © 2026 Fox Media LLC and Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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