Davis Cup, Adriano Panatta returns on the forfeits of Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti

Adriano Panatta, on the sidelines of a padel event in Treviso, returned to talk about Davis Cup and the forfeits of Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti. Here are the words of the triumphant, along with Corrado Barazzutti, Paolo Bertolucci and Tonino Zugarelli, of the silver salad bowl in Santiago in 1976.

“We are a strong team even without Sinner and Musetti, but with them we probably would have been unbeatable. The other teams are not unplayable, Berrettini and Cobolli played great against Austria, and we also have a very good doubles team.”

“To me and Paolo, to Corrado and Tonino, and before us to Pietrangeli and everyone else, it would not have even crossed our minds to skip Davis. But Davis was at the center of our programs, the other choices revolved around it. That is no longer the case today.”

Italy will take on Belgium today in the first semifinal of the Davis Cup Final Eight at the SuperTennis Arena in Bologna and, if they win, they will face the winner of tomorrow’s second semifinal between Germany and Spain in the final on Sunday.