Adriano Panatta distances himself from Jannik Sinner
Adriano Panatta commented in Corriere della Sera on the news of Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from the Davis Cup Finals: “There are situations where I feel like a talking dinosaur and this is one of them. What can I do about it? He says: get used to it! Yes, but it”s not easy.
“I played when the old Cup was one of the priorities that could be counted on the fingers of one hand. So we were taught. It was up to the sensibilities of each of the Italian tennis players to put it first, second, or third, but the top five revolved around Rome, Paris, Wimbledon, Davis, and maybe last, the U.S. Open. Of the Australian Open, no one was talking, we didn’t even follow them in the newspapers. I was there once, very young, Borg I think never. Tennis has changed, and it has not always done so in the best ways. This only adds to my discomfort…”.
“Would it make sense to judge today’s events, people, their behavior, with yesterday’s yardstick? I would never have given up Davis, and if anyone on the team had, it would have been the teammates and the captain, even before the federation, who would have demanded an explanation in the harshest possible way. But it never happened. It would not have even crossed my mind and Paolo’s, Corrado’s and Tonino’s, and before us Pietrangeli’s and everybody else’s mind. But Davis was at the center of our programs, the other choices revolved around it. Today that is no longer the case”.
“I can tell Sinner that I am sorry, that if I were him an effort I would have made, that it would have been helpful also to get himself out of the controversy that is sure to catch fire. But can I blame him when he comes and tells us that the only priority is to get off to a good start in 2026 and that a week off or on, in the end, makes a difference? Today’s tennis demands from tennis players an attitude of complete adherence, almost devotion. The players are the CEOs of the companies that bear their name. They are like military men who must prepare for a mission. Sinner of Davis has won two, now he needs a break to revive his ambitions: to win in the Slams, to fight on equal terms with Alcaraz, to take back the number One spot. These are his priorities. It would have been easier if tennis had caught the changes taking place, in the players’ ways of being above all. The Davis Finals is too close to the Finals, the calendar certainly doesn’t help it. It is a tennis that needs to be rethought in its complexity, not compartmentalized. When they do, it will never be too late.
